Home 3: No Man's Land
by Acid-Rush
Summary: COMPLETE Sequel to 'Home' and 'Visit', the final installment in the trilogy. Lara meets Kurtis in less than desirable circumstances, where only one thing is clear - she is definately in danger.
1. Epilogue

**Hiya folks! Well, it took a while, but I finally came up with a plot to incorporate all those random scenes I'd been writing for this final installment, so I figure the first little bit is ready for its premiere. Put your pokey sticks away, eat your burning marshmallows, sit back, relax, and enjoy.**

_Epilogue  
_He sat with his feet crossed at the ankles and propped up on the windowsill, the hugely tall double inner windows open inwards, creating a frame around him as he sat in the armchair, leaning back comfortably and staring out over the rain swept city.

The storm beat down on the old outer sash window that couldn't be opened more than a few inches for safety. It rattled the aging pane every time a bus thundered past, shaking the rain drops that trickled down the glass in syncopated, stop-start motions. He smoked his cigarette as he took in the urban scenery.

In the upper floor modernised bar and restaurant across the street with the interior lit starkly against the gloom of the overcast evening, the people inside were all young, carefree, chattering students with time to socialise, marking a university town in vacation time. All of them sat in twos or more, smiling and laughing, apart from one, who sat alone reading a book with no food or drink, immersed, all having no idea that a lone, dark character was watching them as he enjoyed the weather. Next door was the office of The Samaritans, and inside there was a woman sitting in the unlit office, meandering around with lazy paperwork, waiting for the phone to ring. A colleague arrived and the lights went on, and the blind was drawn shut, though whether they had seen him watching or not, he couldn't tell. He looked down on both domains from his second floor hotel room. Behind the office was a more modern street, raised up so that from his vantage point he still see at ground level the heads of people rushing to get in from the rain as they embarked from their train at the small station, with trains running every few minutes in and out along the track, disappearing out of view to his left.

Tiring of other people, he crossed his ankles the other way to alleviate the ache from the windowsill pressing into his flesh, and began mindlessly watching the street lamp in front of his window; raindrops fell onto the circular shade that served to protect the glass ovoid containing the bulb, and as the surface became too crowded, latecomers were forced to fall over the side, hanging for a second in liquid icicles before plummeting to the ground, too fast to see.

The rain abated somewhat, but the cold air seeping in through the poorly fitted outer window continued, becoming too chilly for his liking, so he stubbed out his cigarette, stood, closed and latched the windows, staring up at their height just short of the tall ceiling as he did so, pushed the chair back to its original position, and got changed for dinner.


	2. Numb Enough Again

_Numb Enough Again_

"Got everything?"

"Yes, thankyou Bryce." Lara smiled, winked, moved her sunglasses down onto her nose, and raised the clutch, drawing the car slowly and carefully around the fountain outside Croft Manor, and down the gravel driveway to the gates.

"Yell when you get to Manchester!" Bryce called after her, waving goodbye. He shielded his eyes against the sun as he watched her leave until she disappeared around the corner onto the road. He shared a small smile with Hillary, standing primly beside him to see Lara off, both satisfied that she would be safe, before they both turned and headed back into the house, the hallway flooded with warm summer sunlight pooling in through the open double front doors.

* * *

Sighing, the man flopped down onto the bed, clad in just a towel after his evening shower and feeling all too keenly the humidity it had created. He rubbed a hand across his forehead, wiping away the sweat that was already beginning to form and silently cursed the window locks that offered little fresh air as he flicked on the television, reluctant to dress for the moment.

His hotel was one of the more upper class ones of the city, chosen specifically for that feature and its location, though it wasn't for his benefit. Screaming that his credit card bill was going on fancy technology rather than air conditioning, the TV screen glowed to life on the hotel information channel, with two words emblazoned above the option list. 'Mr Dupuis.'

The phone rang and he reached out blindly, his eyes fixed on the TV. Fumbling for the receiver, he eventually managed to pick it up, and he pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

On the other end a voice mumbled discreetly, uncomfortably, "She's just checked in, Sir."

"Where?"

"Sir, I really shouldn't be – "

"When I paid you, you agreed to tell me the room."

There was a pause. Then the voice said, "The Whitworth suite."

"An extra hundred if you can let me know when she orders room service."

"The kitchen will charge it to her account, but it might take a while to show up."

"No, I need to know as soon as she's ordered."

The voice sighed reluctantly, torn between keeping its job and taking the bribe. "I'll ask the kitchen to ring it through to the front desk. I'll ring you."

"Good. Come by when your shift's over, I'll pay you." Without waiting for a reply, the man hung up the phone and returned his full attention to the TV.

* * *

Having received the call confirming that room service had been ordered, Lady Lara Croft was not surprised to hear the knock at the door. Pushing her work to one side, she slid off the bed and trotted over to the door, trustingly pulling it wide open and smiling round.

"Thankyou," she said warmly, and her smile was returned as the waiter pushed the trolley into the room. With a nod, he brought it to a halt by the steps leading into the main room and turned to go. Glancing over his shoulder, he was pleased to see Lara with her back to him, examining her evening meal.

"Don't move, don't speak, don't do anything." He followed his softly spoken order with the warning click of his silenced pistol being cocked.

Lara stiffened, turning her head slightly to view him over her shoulder, taken aback but still calm. The false waiter reached behind him and felt for the door handle, pushing the door open slightly and stepping back into the doorway to keep it open.

"The door's open, the lounge is just three rooms down. You don't want to draw any attention to us, do you?"

Lara slowly turned, raising her chin curtly, to glare at her assailant.

"She's mine." A third voice broke into the conversation, its words spat menacingly. A gun was pressed into the waiter's neck, hard, uncomfortable. Lara's eyelids flared momentarily in shock as she looked over the waiter's shoulder and identified her saviour. He showed no signs of recognition or friendliness to her as he shoved the gun harder into his victim's neck, urging him forward. "In." The waiter complied, walking carefully forward, his own gun snatched from his hand where it had fallen to his side.

"On the floor. Lay down, count to a thousand, don't move until you get there." To Lara, the newcomer flicked the gun towards the open door, motioning her out. "Move."

She wouldn't give him the pleasure of reacting, instead proudly walking out into the corridor, looking resolutely forward and smartly following his directions as he trailed behind her down the corridors of the hotel, the gun still directed at her back.

Another guest approached from ahead, and Lara proudly played along as the man behind her hid the gun in his leather jacket and pretended to be doing nothing more than coincidentally heading the same way as the stranger a few feet ahead of him.

The guest stepped into the lift not far behind them and, alone again, Lara said icily, "First you leave without warning, now you're kidnapping me. I'm getting mixed signals."

"The room on the right. Open it." He waved an electronic key over her shoulder and she snatched it off him, setting her jaw angrily as she shoved the key card into the lock and then yanked it out again, jerking the door handle and throwing the door open forcefully. Stalking into the room, she stopped in the centre, still facing forward, as she heard the door behind her click shut.

"Sit down. Make yourself at home." A rustle and a light thud indicated that her kidnapper had thrown his jacket onto a nearby chair, before he moved into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

Moodily, Lara fell onto the bed, taking in the room around her and breathing in the all too familiar smoke. The sound of water from the bathroom suggested that he was running the sink taps, perhaps to splash water over his face to compose himself, or maybe he was planning on drowning her.

Sulking at the lack of attention she was being shown, especially for an affair such as a kidnapping, Croft picked up the TV remote and flicked on the set, the screen coming to life just as the bathroom door opened and the occupant returned.

"Mr Dupuis, today, I see," Lara said tartly in reference to the greeting on the screen.

"Shut up, Lara." He moved to the desk and began to make coffee.

"Are you going to tell me why you kidnapped me?"

There was only silence in reply as he continued to keep his back to her, busying himself with the drinks.

"Oh, well," Lara sniped as she pulled herself back onto the bed and sat up against the pillows with her legs stretched out in front of her, flicking through the in house movies to see which one she'd get charged to her host's account, "That's much more like the Kurtis Trent we all know and love, isn't it?"


	3. Small Betrayals

**Glad you're enjoying this so far. :-) I was v happy to see feedback in my inbox once again. I forgot to thank you all for your feedback regarding the end of Home 2: Visit, so I'll do that now. Thanks! I'm thrilled that you all liked it, and I especially loved godavari's and Froline el-Vasper's reviews, which were just too funny. :-D**

_Small Betrayals_

"I still don't get why Lara's selling all of this stuff," Bryce said, eyeing a velvet tray full of small stone, jade and gold Chinese dragons. He placed the tray carefully into an appropriately sized box and taped down the lid, scrawling 'Dragons' on the top with a black marker, and dumped on top of some other boxes.

"Amazing though it may seem, she's beginning to run out of space, and she doesn't look at these things anymore. They're not particularly rare or valuable, so why not auction them off and let someone else enjoy them for a while?" Hillary grabbed a box from Bryce's stack of work and scribbled out the word 'Cat', replacing it with 'Bastet'.

"So, that pile over there is all the stuff for the auction house, and that is the stuff we're keeping."

"Going into storage whilst the security system on the treasure room is overhauled, yes," Hillary confirmed, identifying a clay statuette against a spreadsheet detailing what was to be kept and what was to be auctioned, and what the reserve prices were.

"Right," grunted Bryce as he hefted a stack of boxes off the table, ready to add them to the 'Sale' pile. "To be clear – the stack on the left is for the auction."

"Yes." Well, Hillary's left, anyway. Unfortunately, as they were facing opposite directions, that was not Bryce's left. And so the boxes went on the wrong pile.

* * *

The hotel receptionist, a student working his holidays looking uncomfortable in his smart suit and tie, knocked on the hotel room door and looked around nervously, shadowed in the dim corridor.

The door opened and light flooded out, making him blink against the sudden brightness. Mr Dupuis stared blankly at his visitor for a second before placing his face.

"Oh, right. Yeah." He propped the door open with his foot as he turned away to his jacket on a nearby chair and pulled a wad of notes out of the inside pocket. "Here you go, kid." He pressed the cash into the young man's hand, drawing his attention back from where it had rested guiltily on Lara, lounging on the bed with a sullen look on her face.

"Thanks," the kid muttered, turning and hurrying off.

Mr Dupuis – Kurtis – shut the door and crossed back to the other bed in the room where he'd been working on a laptop.

"Obviously the staff here can't be trusted," Lara snarled. "I've a mind to complain."

"All he did was tell me where your room was and when your room service was due. He's a hard up student, leave the kid alone." Kurtis didn't even look up from his computer, tapping a few keys here and there.

Lara sniffed.

The phone let out a shrill ring. Immediately, Lara rolled over and shifted towards the edge of the bed, reaching for the phone next to it. She got her hands on the receiver just in time to see Kurtis placing the receiver of the phone next to the other bed to his ear and cradling it with his shoulder as he continued to work on his computer.

"Yeah," Kurtis said, signalling he'd answered. Still refusing to acknowledge that she was the captive and therefore had a certain lack of rights, Lara nestled her own receiver to her ear and started to listen in.

Kurtis stood and casually began to stroll over to Lara, as the person on the other end said, "Mr Trent. You sold us the merchandise but you didn't let us take delivery." The voice was British, well spoken, matter of fact and businesslike.

Lara didn't hear any more, as Kurtis, reaching his destination, snatched the phone out of her hands and slammed it back down on the cradle. He didn't even spare her a warning glance as he did so, just went and sat on the end of the bed. Lara scowled.

"Well, I was thinking...maybe we could think of our last deal as a deposit."

There was a pause as Kurtis listened to the reply, and then, "I didn't realise how much it was worth to you at the time....five thousand pounds....well, it's large enough to keep me going for a while and small enough that you'll prefer to pay rather than go to the trouble of killing me and stealing it for free – better to get something than nothing, right?....good....no, you'd better let me come along for the ride....hey, I got you what you wanted, I deserve a cut of the action, besides, you'll never handle it alone....ok, we'll talk then....I look forward to it."

"Merchandise?" Lara enquired, politely but cuttingly. Her eyes followed Kurtis unerringly as he stood and went to replace his receiver.

Before he did, he waved it at her, saying, "Didn't anybody ever tell you it was rude to listen in?" The receiver was placed back on the phone meaningfully.

"Again, I ask, 'merchandise'?"

"Nothing that concerns you, go to sleep. We've got a big night ahead of us." He began tapping away on his laptop again.

"Oh we have?" Lara feigned genuine interest, propping her head in her hand.

"Yeah. We have. Sleep. Or do I have to tie you to a chair and gag you?"

"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Kurtis abandoned his computer to stare back at her, his voice showing the beginnings of irritation.

"Nothing," was the sweet reply with only a hint of malice in the accompanying smile.

"Go to sleep," Trent said, acting as if she was so far beneath him. He returned to his computer, the screen tilted too far for Lara to make out what was on it. Punching the pillow and glowering, she did as she was told.

* * *

"No, Bryce! Oh...." Hillary shooed Bryce away and started foraging in the pile of boxes upon which Bryce had just laid the final stack of 'sales'. "This is the keep pile! You've got it all wrong! Oh, just go and make some tea!"

Bryce sighed, sick of being blamed for everything. "Fine, fine, I'm going."

He disappeared towards the kitchen, and Hillary, muttering curses, began re-sorting the piles.

* * *

"Wake up." Lara's long leather coat fell on top of her, rousing her rudely as the cold lining and heavy weight demanded her senses. She opened her eyes and glared at Kurtis, standing over her, dressed in huge boots and a similar coat to her own. Clearly, they were going out.

"Where are we going?" she demanded, pulling on her coat as she sat up. She glanced at the clock – two thirty in the morning – and cursed herself for sleeping so long and heavily, obviously missing out on an escape opportunity, since Kurtis must have left to get her coat from her room. That thought made her realise that he must have lifted her keycard from her shirt breast pocket, and an unwelcome flush crept onto her cheeks.

Standing, she stood before Kurtis, waiting for him to turn and leave, every look she gave him conveying hatred and challenge. He looked her up and down and for a moment she thought he was checking her out, but then he sighed resignedly and shifted his weight to one leg, folding his arms and giving a dissatisfied glance.

"Tidy yourself up," he said, gesturing as if she had no right to look rumpled after her sleep.

Lara humphed, but did as she was told, smoothing out her clothes and retying her boot laces. She finished, and stood ready for re-inspection. Only Kurtis could treat her like that and get away with it, she thought to herself angrily. Kurtis just sighed again, still unsatisfied, and buttoned up her coat, tying the leather belt around her waist to define her figure.

'I won't accept this, being treated like a child who can't dress themselves," she thought to herself, but somehow she didn't do anything. She still didn't do anything when Trent, deciding that something was missing, turned her around, removed her braid, which admittedly was rather messy after lying down, and roughly dragged her hairbrush, which he must also have brought back from her room, through her hair.

"Ow!" Lara complained, shoving his hand away.

"Be quiet," he grouched, continuing. Turning her back around, he spread her hair out over her shoulders and stood back to critique his work. "Better," he said. "Trust me, you need your feminine wiles tonight."

"Did I miss something?" his model asked sarcastically. "Are you selling me? Am I to audition for something?"

"You need to impress someone, and you sure as hell aren't gonna do it with bits of hair sticking up all over the place. 'Going to be warm enough? You won't look right if you're shivering."

"You're selling me? Aren't you?" She wasn't sure whether to laugh or punch him.

"After a fashion, yes."


	4. Forced Agreements

****

**Feedback, feedback, I love feedback. Hee Hee. Thanks, everyone! So glad to see you back, Andrea Christoph! Glad you're all enjoying it. Don't worry about Godavari, she's been calmed down after that slight outburst. ;-)**

_Forced Agreements_

"Sorted?" Bryce asked Hillary. The two men were standing in the main hallway regarding the two stacks of boxes and drinking tea. The grandfather clock behind them struck three. Bryce yawned.

"All sorted," Hillary confirmed.

"Auction house picking it up tomorrow at ten?"

"Ten."

"It's three in the morning."

"It is."

"Bed?"

"Too far. Couch."

"Chair," agreed Bryce.

Both men drank the last dregs of tea, slammed a cup down on each stack, and then dragged themselves into the nearby lounge, collapsing onto the nearest pieces of comfortable furniture and falling straight asleep.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Lara hissed to Kurtis, walking briskly with him along Oxford Street, pulled close in what appeared to the outside world to be a young couple huddling against the cold but was in fact Kurtis holding tightly onto Lara's forearm with one arm around her waist to both secure her as captive and create the comforting illusion to the outside world.

"To a meeting."

"And your office is...?" Lara asked, knowing that his 'meeting' was very much unofficial and very much in the cold.

"Not far," was the firm reply.

"Do you know why I've allowed this to get this far?" Lara's voice was deceptively conversational but there was an edge of tone that was softly dangerous.

"Because you know that I'm a match for you and you can't escape?" was the joking answer. He knew full well why she'd gone along with the charade.

"Because I want to know what's going on." So, tell me.

"Oh you'll find out what's going on soon enough." With that, Kurtis veered them sharply off into a side alley and twenty feet down towards a dead end. The glare of the street light on the main road cast a stark area of orange glow at the mouth of the alley, but beyond, the shadows had full domain. Only the ambient light served to illuminate their way, shining off the glistening pavements still wet from the earlier storm and adorned with puddles in the uneven concrete, specked with the impact of fine, light rain.

They reached the wall and turned, Kurtis adjusting his hold on his hostage to a far less friendly headlock, a gun appearing out of his pocket. It was held to the side of her head, and she felt his ragged breath on her ear as he whispered to her, his voice threatening.

"Can I put the gun away?"

"I wouldn't advise it." Lara dug her nails into his forearm, pulling it away from where it pressed uncomfortably against her throat.

"Listen Lara, just listen for one second. I've treated you fairly, I've treated you respectfully." Lara barked a short, sharp laugh, but it was quickly quashed when he tightened his hold on her. "It's in both our interests for you to co-operate. These people we're meeting are bigger, better and more dangerous than anybody you or I have ever dealt with before. You do not," and with that word he flexed his arm up under her chin, jerking her head back against his shoulder, "I repeat, _not_ want to do anything other than look nice and behave well. Not yet. You got me?"

His words and actions cowed her. He was obviously not the Kurtis she had known before, and she understood only too well what he was telling her. These people – whoever they were – were better players than they were, and it wasn't a good idea to go up against them. For the moment, anyway. Obviously, her ex-partner was into something interesting, and obviously he needed her. And Lara fully intended to satisfy her curiosity.

She nodded against his forearm. "Ok."

Kurtis slowly released his grip on her, sweeping his arms away in an arc to leave her standing against him, his breath still hot on her ear. "Be a good girl?" Lara nodded again, swallowing dryly. She was treading on very thin ice, but she'd been on thinner. "Good." His hands came to her upper arms and he gently moved her to the side. "Then stand there, be quiet, and pay attention." A flicker of a menacing smile traced across his lips.

The sounds of approaching footsteps rescued Lara from the uncomfortable position she was in, but did little to slow her heart. She looked to the end of the alley as the light reaching in from the well lit main street was blocked by three figures rounding the corner. Confidently striding in, their shadows cut down the alley, creating a V with their forward edges as the middle man moved ahead of the others, his comrades following behind and to his sides in classic formation of brains and muscle. The brains stopped feet from Lara and Kurtis, his features barely visible in the shadow. His long black woollen coat swung slightly as he raised his black leather gloved hands and reached to his inside pocket, removing a wad of notes.

"Five thousand," he said, holding it up into the light reaching in above the men.

"Merchandise," Kurtis responded, gesturing to Lara stood next to him.

She was surveyed by the man, his eyes taking in every detail of her appearance but without a hint of sordid appreciation. "Good. Shall we?" He turned slightly and held out his arm, inviting Lara and Kurtis to precede him out of the alley. Kurtis immediately moved forward, collecting the five thousand as he went and stuffing it into his jacket as he followed the other two men back down the alley, Lara following him close behind. A black Land Cruiser came into view and the party headed towards it. Reaching the vehicle, one of the escorts opened the back door and the other produced from his pocket a bundle of black cloth. Kurtis, obviously fully understanding the conditions of travel, turned towards him and stood obediently still as he was handcuffed, arms in front, and as part of the bundle was shook loose, revealing itself to be a black eyeless hood. It was fitted over Trent's head, blinding him, and the other man placed his hand atop, assisting Kurtis into the car. Lara was next, following Kurtis' lead, as their new business partner, smiling smugly to himself, got into the front passenger seat, removing his gloves.

* * *

Bryce awoke the next morning to Hillary prodding him. "Get up, the auction house will be here in a minute, and the security company's due at twelve."

Bryce groaned. Clambering out of the oversized armchair he'd settled into for the night, stretching his limbs and rubbing an uncomfortable crick in his neck, he moved into the hallway just as a large van emblazoned with the words, 'Nixon Auction House' pulled up in the drive. He swung the door open to the approaching delivery men as Hillary gathered the papers for the sales.

"Morning," the delivery men greeted.

"Morning," Bryce yawned in return.

"Good morning, gentlemen!" Hillary gushed.

Bryce and one of the men began loading boxes into the waiting van as Hillary explained the accompanying paperwork, and the sun, blessing the southern coast of England that late summer, shone down brightly.

* * *

It was mid morning when the car finally arrived at its destination, after hours of silence. Kurtis, having not slept earlier, was snoring softly from underneath his hood, which was now serving the wonderful added advantage of keeping the daylight out. Lara had been awake all night, analysing, and after only a while she had started to get things clear in her mind.

These people, whoever they were, were big, bad and most definitely in charge. They wanted her, and Kurtis had provided her. However, deciding that he could afford to push his luck just a little, he'd snatched her back from their earlier attempt to kidnap her that must have been planned with his help, upped his price, and added into the deal that he got to tag along.

So – that left only three large, annoyingly important, questions.

Who were they, what did they want Lara for, and what was Kurtis' interest in all of this?

In short – bugger.

They were politely helped out of the car, Kurtis being awakened with a shake and a, "Sir". Not quite prisoners, then. Lara was lead a short distance over what sounded like concrete, then stopped. The quiet swish of what she guessed was an electronic key sounded, and then the hiss of air controlled doors. She was lead forward again, up a short ramp, and then the hood was removed.

She found herself in what looked for all the world like a hi-tech office building corridor. The shiny black panelled walls contrasted sharply against a white tiled floor, silver effect inlaid circular lights at regular intervals along the ceiling casting slices of light that bounced harshly off the hard, cold surfaces.

The man in charge stood before them, smiling amiably. Lara got the feeling it wasn't genuine.

"Take her to containment," he instructed one of the escorts. "Mr Trent," he said, turning and smiling at him, "if you'll follow me please."

* * *

Kurtis followed his client into a board room, furnished in black and chrome with monitors around the walls detailing various information, scrolling across screens with maps, diagrams, television feeds, graphs and all manner of other outputs. He paid them little attention, instead seating himself in a chair indicated by his host.

"I'm very pleased with the merchandise, Mr Trent."

"I'm glad, Mr Cheney." Kurtis lit up a cigarette and leant back in his chair comfortably.

"Does she know the details of this arrangement?"

"No. But I'm sure if we tell her the right ones, she'll be on board."

"And if we tell the wrong ones?"

"She'll steal the shard from under your nose and walk away as she leaves you to die. She's not a woman to be crossed."

"Then we'll just have to stay on her good side, won't we?" Mr Cheney smiled like a spider to a fly. Pressing a small touchpad built into the table in front of him, he spoke. "Send her along."

* * *

Containment was not comfortable. A small room with metal floor and stark breeze block walls, it was furnished only by a chair in the centre of the room that was bolted to the floor, made of steel, and was fixed with cuffs for the wrists and feet. Lara, however, was left free. She waited only ten minutes before the door was opened and a woman, dressed in a cream business suit with her hair in a chignon and immaculate underplayed make-up, stood before her with a clipboard.

"Lady Croft, if you'll follow me." Her accent had a hint of French to it, but her English appeared to be perfect.

Lara obediently did as she was asked, and found herself following the woman along long, silent corridors, followed herself by another man with a gun displayed clearly on his belt. Either she was trusted, or the security was unbreakable, because they were taking very few precautions with her. Which one it was could either make or break her in this place, Lara decided. She certainly didn't think there was nothing to worry about.

On the next floor, they reached a room and Lara was shown inside, meeting once again Kurtis and the mysterious buyer. She stood before the table politely, making sure to play everything cleanly and properly until she had a better idea of what was happening to her.

"Sit down," said Kurtis, smiling and offering her a chair next to him. She took the chair, but remained neutral in her expression. They were no longer friends, no matter what he thought.

"Lady Croft," said the man opposite them, pouring a glass of water and pushing it across the table to her, "I am Mr Cheney. And I would like for you to do a job for me."

"A job?" She sipped the water, not bothering to be cautious about it being spiked. Drugging or killing her would serve no purpose at that particular moment.

"I hear you're quite the adventurer, and your references are sparkling." Kurtis and Cheney smiled at each other. Clearly, Kurtis had been her 'reference'.

"The Periapt Shards, Miss Croft. You were not fully briefed as to their history last time."

"No?"

Trent blew out a lungful of smoke and spun his chair to face Lara more squarely. "The Shards were originally a single spearhead. It could kill demons...or gods. Its safety threatened by a growing satanic sect out to kill God, the Knights Templar broke it into four pieces. Three shards, and a tip. The shards maintained a massive amount of the power, which is why we could use them to stop Eckhardt, but it was the tip that held the ability to kill true deities."

He paused to take another drag and Lara, soaking up the details, waited patiently, her gaze not moving from his face. "The shards were left in the care of what became the Lux Veritatis, ready for use. The tip was taken and hidden in subterranean caverns underneath what is now London. A sub-order of the Knights Templar went down with it to guard it. Trouble was, the dark and the inbreeding got to them. They forgot their purpose and the subterraneans of British urban legend were born."

"So the tip is no longer protected?" Lara concluded.

"Exactly," Mr Cheney jumped in. "Which presents a problem and also the solution."

Kurtis took back over again. "Without its proper protectors, it has no-one to wield it against one of the biggest threats the Earth has ever faced from it's own. However, without its proper protectors, it also means it can be retrieved, and wielded by us."

"And you want me to go in and get it?"

"Originally the plan, yes," said Mr Cheney, "but due to a slight change of contract, you'll now be rescuing it with the assistance of Mr Trent."

Lara looked at Kurtis, not quite sure how to take that piece of news.

"Partners again," he smiled at her, stubbing out his cigarette.


	5. Tangled Alliances

**Two chapters in two days. You lucky people. ;-) Thankyou for your wonderful compliment, Lady Lara Croft. And Godavari, please, put the pokey stick away. ;-) **

_Tangled Alliances_

"Cheers, mate," Barry said, accepting the tea off Bryce. He put his screwdriver down and took a mouthful.

"Going alright?" Bryce enquired, stepping around to squint up at Barry's work where he was in the middle of installing new security for Lara's treasure room.

"Yeah, yeah, not bad. I'm just putting in the electromagnetic lock for the door. My partner 'll be here soon to install the pressure pads underneath the display cases."

"Pressure pads?"

"Yeah, some pressure pads were ordered in. Didn't you know?" Barry swallowed another mouthful of refreshing tea and sighed contentedly.

"I'm not the owner," Bryce explained, picking up an electronic keypad waiting to be installed and examining the wires on the back. "Nice."

"Yeah, the latest, that is. By the time anybody cracks that, the alarm'll have gone off, the police will have been alerted, and the burglar will be in handcuffs." He took another long dreg of tea. "Pressure pads are armed when the door's locked. Anything steps on 'em to get to the display cases, all the cameras immediately zero in on it and the alarm's raised at the police station, if it hasn't been already, which it will have because there's no way to break in undetected."

"Cool. Take long, will it?" Bryce put the keypad back down and leant against the doorframe.

"Should be finished by about five. I'm getting all the most important wiring in, my partner's coming in a bit to get the pressure pads installed, and at about three I'm expecting the rest of my boys to finish off all the easy wiring. They're apprentices and newly qualified electricians, y'see, I don't like to let them loose on the bones of the beast, if you know what I mean."

"Good idea." Bryce nodded. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. Shout if you need anything." He smiled and left, and Barry got back to the wiring, cursing under his breath as he gave himself a small electric shock.

* * *

The door opened and Kurtis stepped in, closing it behind him. "Evening, sweetcakes."

Lara looked up from the desk and smiled sarcastically. "Kurtis," she said sweetly, "do you take lessons in being chauvinistic?"

"Only for you darlin'." He sat down on the bed in the small quarters that Lara had been given and pulled one of a number of pieces of paper scattered across the covers towards him. He glanced over it and then dropped it back with the others, all part of the file Lara had been given about the Periapt Shards.

"I'm working, Kurtis. Preparing. What do you want?" Lara spun her office chair around from where she'd been facing the wall to settle her eyes on him.

"We need to talk." He straightened up and sighed as he spoke, giving the impression that the conversation was necessary, but unwanted.

"About?" Lara sighed too, tired of the original Kurtis that had seemed to disappear once they began working together in Prague but had obviously reappeared when she'd nearly drowned. The memory made her shudder for more reasons than one, but she stayed outwardly blasé and stretched out her legs, crossing her ankles and folding her arms, regarding him with her head cocked to the side whilst she waited for an answer.

"Do you need to call Bryce or something?" Kurtis looked up, sighing again as he fingered a sheet of paper, bothered.

"No, they'll only worry. They think I'm researching in the university libraries in Manchester, they won't be expecting to hear from me yet." There was silence broken only by the rustling of paper being fiddled with, so she said, "Though of course you must have known that, since you knew where to find me."

"No, I got someone to trace your credit card, all I had was your booking at the Palace Hotel, I didn't know why you were coming." He sounded uneasy, and kept his gaze down towards the bed.

After a moment he said, looking up from under his hair, "I may not have been entirely truthful with you." The look on his face suggested he was worried as to how Lara was going to take that.

Raising her eyebrows, she returned, "I fail to see how you could have lied when you've barely told me anything."

Kurtis sighed dramatically and flopped back onto the bed, rubbing his eyes with one hand. He certainly didn't seem too happy away from prying eyes. "I'm screwing over The Company."

"I'm sorry? The what?" Lara raised her eyebrows again, seeking explanation.

"The Company." Kurtis' arms fell out to his sides, vaguely gesturing to their surroundings. "The people we're working for. And I'm not so sure I can pull it off any more." Suddenly remembering something, he raised his head and looked at her. "Have they brought you your luggage from the hotel yet?"

Lara's legs lifted and bent, her booted feet slamming noisily back down, flat on the floor. "Will you start from the beginning, please?"

Kurtis' hands covered his face again and a muffled groan escaped from underneath them. They hovered above his head, waving slightly, as he began to speak.

"The Company. These people. Very big, very clandestine, very upper levels of government."

"They're government?" That took Lara by surprise.

"International government. All the major nations have people in The Company, and use The Company's services. They're sort of an independent body that deals with all the security issues that politics doesn't allow anybody else to deal with, and most people don't even hear of."

"Well, someone could have told me. I thought that they were a crime syndicate or something. Not that it matters, I was planning on stealing the shard anyway."

"They're international security, of course they're not going to tell you anything! Anyway, that's what this is all about."

"Security, or thievery?" Lara's tone was light, conversational. As far as she was concerned, details and motives were now inconsequential, and she'd given up bothering about Kurtis hours ago.

"Both. Y'see, there's this little cult."

"Cult?" Yes, that sounded original.

"There's this cult," Kurtis continued, still sprawled on the bed, "that's actually pretty big. And they want the shard because their leader's a nutcase and thinks he's God, and doesn't want anybody coming along with the shard and using it to kill him."

"He thinks he's God." Oh, this just got better and better. Lara couldn't wait to hear more.

"So The Company wants the shard so that they can kill him with it, because, let's face it, shooting him isn't going to persuade his followers to go home and hang their ritualistic robes up, is it?"

"Ok," Lara nodded, taking this in. "And where does your little two-time come into things?"

"The original protectors of the shard are gone and I'm the last of the Lux Veritatis, and that's only because I walked out on them when I was a teenager. The least I can do is get the shard myself and make sure it goes somewhere safe away from cult leaders and corrupt governments. Which, by the way, explains why this all-powerful intelligence agency needed me to find you. This shard operation of theirs isn't exactly above board, they didn't want your file turning up on their computers. Besides, I recommended you in the first place. They wanted someone capable. That's why you had to give the right impression in the alley. Sorry about pulling your hair, by the way."

"I did wonder why they needed you. Why are they keeping this quiet?"

"Truthfully, I dunno. Though you may have noticed Mr Cheney has a bit of a god complex himself, he probably wants to keep the shard back afterwards and use it to bargain with other cults and get them in his pocket, or something."

"Rather arrogant of him, don't you think?"

"Being answerable to only twelve people out of six point five billion 'll do that to ya."

Lara sighed, trying to get everything straight in her mind. "In essence – you want me to help you steal the shard so you can redeem yourself."

"Yes," Kurtis said firmly, sitting up and nodding his head once.

"And we do that...how?"

"I think we need a plan."

"Fine," Lara drawled, standing up wearily and moving to the bed where she flopped down next to Kurtis' feet. Picking up a copy of an ancient map of the underground caverns of London, she said, "We'd better think of something. Though why I'm helping you, I don't know."

Kurtis grinned.

* * *

Barry and his team stood back and admired their handiwork. They'd finished a couple of hours later than planned, but they'd done a good job. As part of the service, all of their client's artefacts had been placed back on display, and now all that remained was for someone in the house to check it over before paying them.

"Now – are you sure that that's all of it?" said Barry, eyeing one empty display case.

"Yep," said someone. "That must be a spare case."

"There's a display label on it though."

"Maybe it's something she's expecting."

"Yeah, that must be it," Barry agreed. "Sir!" he called over his shoulder to attract either Bryce or Hillary's attention.

Hillary appeared from down the hall, carrying a silver tray laden with polishes and clothes to clean the room down now that work was over. "Finished, gentlemen?" he smiled, approaching quickly.

* * *

There was a scream and a metallic crash.

Bryce jumped, the miniature screwdriver in his hand slipping out of the screw head he was carefully tightening and scraping down the side of the delicate aluminium casing that was soon to be his latest robot friend, gouging the paintwork.

"Bugger!"

He slammed the tool down on the table and stood, his chair flying back and crashing to the ground. As if he wasn't frustrated enough from doing such detailed painstaking work, Hillary had to go and freak out over a mantelpiece that had escaped its daily dusting.

"What is it?" Bryce shouted angrily, storming off to find out what had upset Hillary.

There was no reply, so Bryce wandered out into the main hallway in search of clues to lead him to the butler. Walking out into the open foyer, he saw the crowd of workmen standing nervously to one side with Hillary in the treasure room doorway, frozen, the remains of his cleaning tray scattered at his feet.

"Hillary? What's up?" Bryce stepped around him and peered at his face, finding his eyes wide in shock and his mouth open in mild hyperventilation. "What? What is it?" Confused, he followed Hillary's gaze, and jumped back in terror at what he saw. "OH MY GOD!"

"Where is it? Where is it?" Bryce flew around the room desperately seeking the missing object. Hillary just stood, staring hopelessly at the open glass cabinet where once the Dagger of Xian had sat.

"That's everything, Sir," Barry stuttered, looking decidedly nervous. "Wasn't anything left for that case."

"Has to be here somewhere, got to be." A flurry of packing polystyrene cascaded around Bryce as he desperately threw handfuls of it over his shoulders, delving into the packing cases in the corner of the room.

A look of realisation crossed Hillary's face, shadowed by an expression of utter horror. "The auction house."

The polystyrene storm abated as Bryce gradually slowed his movements, sprinkles of packing balls becoming less and less frequent as Hillary's words sunk into his brain until eventually they ceased altogether. Silently, slowly, Bryce straightened up.

"No."

"Yes." Hillary nodded reluctantly.

"No."

"Yes."

Bryce very slowly turned. "We have to get to the auction house."

"We do."

The horrified stillness was suddenly broken as both men dashed for the door, racing through the house to the garage in a maelstrom of footsteps, shouts and flailing arms.


	6. Deceptive Confidence

**Thanks, Froline el-Vasper! Hopefully, you'll be suprised by how it turns out. :-) Someone pointed out that the first chapter makes very little sense, especially as it's called 'Epilogue'. Unclear, I know, but it acts an epilogue for parts 1 and 2, outlining the sort of character that Kurtis has become, and thus also being a prologue for part 3. Maybe I should change it to 'Epilogue/Prologue' or something equally mysterious and arty. ;-)**

_Deceptive Confidence_

Bryce and Hillary stood in the reception area of Nixon's Auction House, leaning against the walls and cursing to themselves silently. The Dagger of Xian had been sold that day, they'd been told, by a buyer for a Nottingham-based antiques chain. They could have the contact details, but other than that, it was out of the auction house's hands, and their cut of the profits would be in the post, and could they please leave because the evening auction aimed at international buyers in other time zones was almost over, and they were about to close.

"Lara is going to kill us. You do realise that?" Bryce rubbed his temples tiredly and swore under his breath.

Hillary didn't answer straight away. He stood, looking thoughtful. "Not if she doesn't find out she won't."

Bryce looked up, the thought not having occurred to him. "Are you suggesting we somehow, without Lara's help or knowledge, get the dagger back before she returns in..." - he looked at his watch – forty eight hours?"

"Yes."

"Despite the fact that the buyers might have shipped it anywhere in the country or indeed the world, and despite the fact that we'll have to use Lara's expense account to do it."

"Yes."

"And how are we going to do that?" Bryce folded his arms and fixed Hillary with a stare.

"We replace the money we take from her expense account with the profit from the dagger's sale, act quickly, and you re-route all her calls to the house to our mobile phones without her realising."

"That easily, eh?"

"Do you like your job, Bryce? Your over salaried, under worked, accommodation in historic sprawling upper class estate and board included, job?"

Bryce looked at Hillary, considering. "Good point. Bloody good point."

Both men turned and headed for the exit, returning to the manor to rest for an early start the next morning.

* * *

Closing the door behind him, Kurtis smiled weakly at the guards posted outside Lara's quarters and took the few steps down the corridor to his room next door. He quickly stepped inside, slamming the door behind him and leaning against it, exhaling long and heavily. He closed his eyes and banged his head back against the door.

"Fuck."

* * *

"You know, this is actually really fun!" Bryce yelled to Hillary over the roar of the road and the speeding wind that carried his voice away. "I can see why Lara does this!"

Hillary spared his new working partner a glance from the motorway. "It is rather exciting!"

They were breaking the speed limit on the M1 motorway, heading North to Nottingham, on the trail of the Dagger of Xian that had been accidentally auctioned off the day before. The top was down on Bryce's Ford StreetKa, it was warm and sunny, and they had forgotten all about the severity of the situation in the adrenaline of the chase. They were on a mission to get the dagger back before Lara ever found out it was gone, and all thoughts that there was a good possibility that they could fail were quashed under the joy of having a legitimate reason to swan off around Britain in a sports car with fully justified access to Lara's funds to pay for it all.

"Our exit," Bryce remarked, pointing to the approaching slip road. Hillary obediently manoeuvred the car off the motorway, and they slowed towards the exit roundabout.

"Which way?" asked Hillary, stopping at the line in the right hand lane. Bryce examined the route planner.

"First exit."

"We're in the wrong lane, then?"

"Yep."

"We really should have brought Lara's Avensis, at least that has satellite navigation."

"No sunroof, though."

Hillary shrugged. "We'll just go right round the roundabout."

"Ok."

* * *

A knock sounded at Mr Cheney's door, interrupting him from his breakfast perusal of the daily reports coming in from The Company's various operations across the globe. Calmly relegating them to his desk, he leant back in his chair and looked to the door. "Come in."

Kurtis entered, shutting the door behind him. "The guards outside Lara's room last night were asleep, y'know."

"Cane and Glew? The latest in a long line of unsatisfactory references for them, I'm afraid. They're due on a suicide mission tomorrow. I'll see you get someone more capable next time. Lady Croft's been no trouble, has she?"

"No, no, just thought you'd like to know. Lara's on our side now, she won't be causing any problems for us."

"You're sure?" Cheney looked to Kurtis, his chin casually resting in his hand, betrayed only by the challenging stare in his eyes.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Mr Cheney. She's ours now." Kurtis spoke softly and evenly, staring right back. His eyes conveyed a certain air of authority of his own, one that dared Mr Cheney to stand up to it.

Mr Cheney laughed. "I like you, Mr Trent. You have a certain quality. One that inspires people to give you the respect that you demand, even if you don't deserve it." He paused. "To be clear – where exactly do you stand with her?"

Kurtis blinked slowly, considering his answer but retaining full command of the interview. "We were friends. But I made a mistake and it nearly got her killed."

"And now you're no longer friends."

"She didn't know it was my fault, but I walked out on her soon after, and the next time she saw me I had a gun to her. So no, we're no longer friends."

"I'm expecting you to work together."

"I'll win her back."

"Just as long as she doesn't win you back. You're contracted to me, Mr Trent. Don't disappoint me."

"I'm prepared to do what you've asked me to. Don't worry." Kurtis smiled encouragingly and turned to leave. As he reached the door, Mr Cheney spoke, stopping him. Kurtis stared towards the door as Mr Cheney kept his own eyes on his desk.

"Do _not_ let her get to you, Trent." Cheney looked up, catching Kurtis' eye as he looked over his shoulder. "I'd hate for you to feel that you'd have to grieve her at the conclusion of this particular...operation."

Kurtis simply walked out.

* * *

Hillary and Bryce, having eventually found Brownsword's, the upmarket antiques shop in Nottingham, strolled in. Hillary made for the counter whilst Bryce started poking around, browsing through the trinkets.

"We were told you bought a piece from Nixon's yesterday, a dagger."

The assistant at the counter was a young man, possibly an apprentice into the business. "I'm not really sure, let me get the manager." He disappeared into the back to find help from someone in a more senior position. Hillary, bouncing on his toes patiently, looked over to Bryce.

"Hey!" said Bryce, "Look, it's a replica of the Atlantean Scion! Does Lara know they're making these?" He picked it up and examined it, scrutinising the detail against the real thing.

Hillary's eyes darted around, as if checking for Lara's presence. "They haven't got a Dagger of Xian, have they?"

Bryce poked through the irreverently displayed fakes. "No. Shame."

The manager and assistant reappeared. "You're looking for a dagger?"

"The Dagger of Xian, yes, Nixon's told us you purchased it yesterday."

"Yes, Sir, we did. It's on its way to one of our shops, but it won't be coming here, we don't take extremely rare pieces at this branch. No market."

"Do you know where it's going?"

"Not exactly, but I would think Glasgow."

"Could you give us the address of the shop, please?"

"Glasgow then?" said Bryce, as the manager searched for the address and scribbled it down.

"If you give me your phone number, I can let you know if I find out where it's going," the manager smiled as he passed the address to Hillary.

* * *

"You've been talking to Mr Cheney," said Lara matter of fact-ly yet accusatory, appearing behind Kurtis as he was checking the progress of their expedition on a public computer terminal, making him jump.

Turning around after his initial shock, he folded his arms and leant back against the shelf that the keyboard was placed on, it's accompanying monitor set into the wall. "You been looking for me?"

"Yes. And I'm thinking that maybe, you don't trust me." The two stared at each other for a second, gauging reactions.

Kurtis' eyes flicked to the guard that was accompanying Lara out of her room. "You can leave her with me." The guard nodded and quietly left.

"I don't think Mr Cheney trusts me either. An escort at all times?" Lara's tone was light, but it was clear that she wanted answers.

Kurtis put a hand on her shoulder, steering her away down the corridor back towards their rooms. "I'm doing business with him, you were brought here under duress. How would you treat us?"

"Oh, but I'm a business partner now as well."

"Nevertheless, an initially unwilling one. You aren't being left out of anything important, ok? I was just informing Cheney that you're on our side now."

"Except I'm not."

They stopped and turned to look at each other. "He doesn't know that."

After a moment Lara changed the subject. "When do we leave?"

"Tonight. Eight o clock. We should be there by ten, ready to start under cover of darkness."

"And until then?"

"We're free." A suggestive smile appeared on Kurtis' lips. "To do whatever we want." A looked Lara up and down appreciatively. She sniggered, looking to the floor and shaking her head in a show of disbelief.

"Do you honestly think that I'd want to spend one second with you for anything other than business?"

"Oh come on, Croft, you can't deny we had something."

"We _had_ something." With that, Lara turned and strode down the corridor back to her room, unescorted.

* * *

Bryce and Hillary were on their way to Glasgow. Frustratingly, the dagger was not.

"Damn," Hillary muttered as he hung up his cell phone. "Glasgow refused it, they've had a lot of attempted break-ins lately," he complained to Bryce, who was driving. "It's being sent down to Newcastle under Lyme." Bryce sighed, getting in lane for the next exit.

A mile passed and then, "Hey!" said Hillary, twisting round in the passenger seat to look after a storage truck travelling in the opposite direction. "That's a Brownsword's van!"

"They've got our dagger!" Bryce cried, eyes darting from the road to the southbound carriage and back again, wanting to swing the car round but knowing it was impossible.

"Come back!"


	7. Fuzzy Briefing

**Thanks, Lady Lara Croft. :-) I'm not sure how Bryce and Hillary will fare either, but hopefully whatever happens it'll be amusing. I hope I'm not confusing anyone by depending on earlier details too much - I know you all have more important stuff to do than memorise fanfic plots to the letter! 'Fraid this chapter's a bit of a filler in preparation for the next, which needs to stand alone.**

_Fuzzy Briefing_

His phone rang and Bryce, just coming out of the bathroom, dived forward and landed flat on the hotel bed, bouncing as he grabbed the handset and answered the call. "Hello!"

Having decided it was too late to retrace their tracks all the way back to Newcastle, and knowing that by the time they got there the antiques shop would be long shut, and it wouldn't be too easy to find accommodation, they'd checked into a Best Western in Liverpool. Manchester had been closer, but they'd had visions of running into Lara there.

"Bryce, it's me," came the reply yelled over what could only be described as a commotion.

Bryce rolled onto his back and frowned. "Lara? What's going on? Where are you?"

"Slight change of plan, Bryce. Not sure where I am, but I'm about to go and pick up a forth Periapt Shard."

"A what?"

"Periapt Shard, Bryce. Don't you ever listen to anything I say? The weapons I used to kill Eckhardt in Prague?"

"But – "

"Look, I can't talk now, it's all a bit complicated, but I'm okay and I'll get back to you when I can, alright? Say goodnight to Hillary for me."

"Lara?" was all Bryce managed to get out before she hung up. "Fine, whatever," he complained, flinging the phone back down.

* * *

"Ready?" Kurtis appeared at Lara's side as she hung up her phone, hefting an AK-47 rifle and checking it over. He was dressed in the usual combats and T-shirt, but he had taken advantage of the extra resources of The Company, and was now also sporting more weaponry than a small battalion and dark camouflage paint smeared over his face.

"I think I confused Bryce."

"Easily done." Kurtis handed the rifle to Lara and looked her over. "Nice outfit. Very...tough girl," he got out after considering her garb for a moment. Not having brought any of her usual combat clothes with her, Lara had thrown together a raiding outfit based on black jeans that she'd cut off into shorts, a cranberry vest top with a scribbled star on it, and a black flak jacket that she'd borrowed from The Company. She'd also opted for face paint, but more for cosmetic effect than practical use. Lara was a sassy dresser.

Behind them, causing the commotion that Bryce had heard on the phone, was a small team of ten, all suiting up and engaging in the usual rough banter that combat teams always seemed to deal in. One of them approached Kurtis and Lara.

"We're ready, Sirs." His accent was American, and showed no trace of having been diluted through emigration, like many of the other foreign employees she'd met, but they were clearly still in England, which told Lara that The Company was obviously pretty mobile.

"Excellent," said Lara succinctly, turning and heading for the doorway, Kurtis at her side.

As they reached it, a monitor display to the side flashed to show, 'Mission Active' in green, and the doors swished automatically open, through which they entered into an underground car park. Lara quickly took in her new surroundings, gleaning whatever information about the organisation that she could.

It was a large square, maybe 50 metres in length, with doorways all around it and a black van parked outside each one. Theirs had its back doors already opened, and a driver was climbing into the cabin, starting up the engine and tapping something into a small palmtop computer attached to the dashboard. Lara's assigned team moved around her and Kurtis, who was waiting for his partner to take it all in, and began loading equipment into the van quietly and efficiently. Across the square another team had just finished doing the same and were piling themselves into the back, the last one still clambering up even as the van pulled away. It headed for a single exit and disappeared up a sloping tunnel, presumably up to the surface. "Well oiled machine," Lara remarked, stepping forward and climbing into the back of the van.

As the van drove away, Lara still having no idea as to her whereabouts inside the windowless box, all eyes turned to her. She stared back, blinking, not quite knowing what they expected. Kurtis did, however, and he nudged her. "You're in charge, Croft. Give 'em a briefing." She looked at him, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Give them a briefing? How am I supposed to be in charge when I've been kept in the dark myself?" Kurtis' only answer was a grin, so she sighed, and stood up, moving to the front of the van.

"Information is sketchy at best. We don't really know what we're dealing with. We have maps, that's about it. Once we find our way through the old London Underground tunnels and into the Periapt Complex, all we have is our wits and our guns. Kurtis and myself will be leading, and you'll be following our orders to the letter, but having said that, don't be afraid to offer any information or opinions that you might have."

That was the best she could do. The file she'd been given on the Periapt Shards had mostly contained information on their history, as Kurtis had summarised in their initial meeting. Everything else was either from an unreliable source or too vague to be of any real use in planning their expedition. Geological surveys and maps of the London Underground had mapped out their initial movements through disused tunnels into the natural cavern system where the Shard was hidden, known as the Periapt Complex, but after that they were on their own. Surface building had ruined the chances of any useful geological work, and all they had on the Complex was an ancient map that had possibly been rendered useless through land subsidence, rock falls, flooding, or any other number of hazards. Lara didn't mind too much, though. She was used to going in blind.

The team returned to quiet chit-chat as Lara sat back down, talking amongst themselves, checking their equipment over one last time, playing card games, sitting quietly and just psyching themselves up for the mission. Kurtis, squashed next to Lara in the cramped quarters, took advantage of their sudden anonymity and leant his head against hers, speaking quietly so that only she could hear. Whether his physical contact was to mask their conversation or for other more casual reasons, she didn't know, but she let it slip. He was beginning to get back through to her again, and she wasn't sure that she didn't want him to succeed.

"So we're clear? On the plan?"

"We're clear."

"I don't wanna have to kill these guys." Kurtis' words showed feeling and concern for the team, but his eyes refused to acknowledge them, staring down towards the stacks of equipment in the centre of the van.

"You got the tranquillisers didn't you?" Lara shifted a little, startled by Kurtis' admission that harked back to a time when he hadn't seemed quite so cold.

"Yeah, I did, but I'm not sure they'll penetrate the flak jackets."

"They will." Lara kept her eyes to the front, drawing no attention to them as their conversation finished and they stayed as they were, jostled slightly by the moving van.

* * *

Hillary and Bryce laughed as they sprawled on the beds in their twin hotel room, Bryce flicking through the in-house entertainment channels.

"This is great!" squeaked Hillary. So often he had to stay at home while Lara and Bryce went off on their adventures, now he was getting to stay in a top hotel and play with the film channels. "Oh! Oh! Go back!", he shouted over the din of TV and laughter, and Bryce obediently returned to the previous channel. "I know him! I know him!"

"What?!"

"That man! That actor! Oh, what's he been in?"

"Erm...this film?"

"No, idiot!" Hillary half-heartedly threw a pillow at Bryce and continued trying to place the familiar face, clicking his fingers as if it would make a light bulb appear over his head.

"You know what we need to do?" said Bryce, settling back into the pillows with one arm behind his head. "We need to go out."

"Go out where?" asked Hillary, attention still fixed on the unknown actor.

"A club."

"A club? I haven't been to a club in years. I'm middle aged, Bryce."

"Time for a mid-life crisis then," said Bryce, swinging his legs off the bed and scratching his fingers through his hair to muss it up. "Come on."


	8. Hunted

**I'm glad you're all liking the Bryce/Hillary subplot - wasn't sure how that was going to be received, so I'm happy it's working.  
Lady Lara Croft - I plan on expanding on The Company later, but for now just let it be said that they're a security service (as in the CIA or MI5) but far more influential, far- reaching and covert, and international. I re-read the story so far last night and realised that I hadn't made that as clear as I intended. They bear more than a passing resemblance to Section 1 from the TV show La Femme Nikita, for anyone who's watched that. ;-)**

_Hunted_

****

"Right, then," said Lara brightly, stepping into the shadows. In a disused station on the London subway network, Lara, Kurtis, and their team of representatives of The Company, moved along an abandoned line into the dark depths of an abandoned tunnel, and disappeared out of sight underneath London.

The sheer darkness was astounding as they got further and further away from the mouth of the tunnel and the light spilling in from the platform waned, leaving them to feel their way forward with only each other and their weapons for comfort.

The soldiers brought up the rear as their leaders took point, Lara slightly ahead of Kurtis. The teams' torches offered nothing more than thin slices of light to stop them from tripping, eaten up by the dark whenever anyone tried to illuminate anything more than the ground immediately in front of their feet. Night vision was useless, with ambient light levels too low for even the best of technology. No-one uttered more than a whisper, and everyone fought to keep their breathing shallow against their fear. The silence and darkness was suffocating.

"Y'know," said Kurtis to Lara in a low voice that wouldn't get any louder no matter how hard he tried, "they say these tunnels are haunted."

"Yes," Lara replied matter of fact-ly, "Workers killed on the lines, an actress from the theatre that was knocked down for the station. A witch, too, apparently."

Kurtis swallowed. "And we both know ghosts exist, right?"

"Brother Obscura was a breeze," came the confident reply, though it masked a natural fear.

"And your opinion on the sub-terraneans?"

"You told me they were real. Offshoot of the Knights Templar."

"Yeah, but do you think they're around _here_?"

"Well, if they're not, they're probably inside the Periapt Complex. Wouldn't be surprised if we meet some."

"Legends say they're vicious, animal. And they're adjusted to being able to see in the dark."

"Kurtis," said Lara, scuffing her boots to show him she'd stopped, "we have guns. Don't panic." She set off again.

"Who's panicking?" he replied almost to himself, grasping his Boron X that little bit tighter.

A few more seconds of silence passed, broken only by the crunching of gravel underfoot as the team stalked slowly and cautiously forward.

Then a scream, a scuffle, and silence.

The team swung round to the direction of the sound, near the back of the group, brandishing their flashlights like weapons as the beams cut across the tunnel behind them, sweeping across the floor and up the walls of the tunnel, and disappearing into nothingness within the blackness beyond. Nothing. Absolutely nothing there.

"Team check," came Lara's shaky voice cutting through the oblivion.

"Trent," came Kurtis' voice, his flashlight still swinging all around him.

"Richards."

"Daynes."

"Gilroy."

"Norcup."

"Prosser."

"Talbot."

"Rollason."

"Saunders."

"Booker."

There was silence. Then a shaky, frightened voice. "Where's Cohen?" No-one answered. They all knew where Cohen was.

"Everybody close in. Take partners, stay in physical contact, stay aware."

At Lara's strongly spoken order, Kurtis moved his torch to bathe her face in a soft orange glow and stepped forward into his own light, the look on his face clear. Fear. "We're being picked off."

"Yes," said Lara, looking suspiciously around her, "we are."

* * *

"Do you want to pick up girls or have fun?" Bryce stopped suddenly and turned to Hillary on the night-lit street in the club centre of Manchester.

"I'm sorry?" Hillary looked dumbfounded for a second.

"Girls or clubbing? Not that they're mutually exclusive, but you generally get more of one done without the other."

"Um...aren't I a little old for most of these girls?" Hillary looked around him at the Liverpool revellers talking, laughing and going in and out of clubs.

"Right, gay club it is then." Bryce turned and set off resolutely across the road.

"What?!" Hillary stood still for a second, taken aback, and then ran after Bryce.

As he caught up with him Bryce said, "Gay clubs. Destination of those not seeking to score."

"And if someone tries to score with us?"

"They won't."

They reached the entrance of a red neon club with the solid vibration of a beat spilling out of the open door, and Hillary stumbled in behind Bryce, too afraid to risk being left alone in the alien environment of music he didn't understand, people young enough to be his children, and drunkenness he hadn't experienced since university.

* * *

As ordered, the team broke up into twos and threes and walked closely, their arms brushing each other, or with a hand on their partner's shoulder, leading each other in the dark and kidding themselves that the light physical contact would act as an anchor to prevent them from being wrenched away from their group like Cohen. The lights had been diminished to one source, lighting the way from Lara's torch on point. She swept the beam from left to right and back again in short arcs at their feet, keeping the ground in front of herself and Kurtis illuminated, a beacon for the rest of the team. Kurtis' fingers were held out to touch lightly on Lara's wrist where she was holding out the flashlight, a gesture useful for nothing more than comfort.

"It's so quiet I can't hear anything over our footsteps and breathing," Kurtis complained, not bothering to explain his paradoxical statement.

"Focused ears are easy to fool," agreed Lara in a whisper, her eyes darting around to take in every detail that the meagre light exposed. "I am so scared, you wouldn't believe."

"No, no," Kurtis said, looking over his shoulder and peering into the blackness, "I have a good idea."

He saw nothing – absolutely nothing – as only two feet away a sudden scuffling sound originated from within the dark, followed by the unmistakable sound of two bodies being dragged over the gravelled floors, emanating out through the shocked, terrified silence as the remaining team members froze and ceased breathing. Seconds that seemed like years passed before someone started hyperventilating, choking out their words in hysterical cries. "That was Richards and Rollason!"

"Are you sure?" Lara shouted, desperate to find some sense through the man's fear-crazed sobs. "Yes!" he almost screamed, "I was holding Richards' arm, I felt her get pulled right out of my hand!"

The rest of the team suddenly coming back to their senses, torchlights snapped on, sweeping around the immediate vicinity and jogging up and down as people ran to search a wider area for their teammates. Two of them dragged the hysterical Daynes to the floor and held him down as he thrashed against them, yelling orders at him to pull himself together and calm down, holding his chin roughly and forcing their words through to him with violent persuasion.

"Calm down!" Kurtis screamed over the din of panicked communication and frantic footsteps. "Calm down! Everyone calm down, that's an order!" His last few words drew their attention, and the scattered team quickly regrouped, a terrified Daynes still panting heavily, eyes wild with fear in the light being shone on his face by Lara.

"Daynes, pull yourself together," she said harshly, glaring. "Discipline is the only way we're going to get through this, and no-one, and I mean _no-one­ _is going to get hysterical like that again."

Beside her, Kurtis stood still breathing heavily after the melee, backing up her orders with a hard stare swept over the group. "There're nine of us left now. We go in three groups of three. Booker, you're with us. The rest of you split and fan out. Now, the entrance to the Periapt Complex is just up there." He shone his torch straight out down the tunnel and the beam hit a wall, signalling a turn in direction of the tunnel. "There's a drain that goes straight down in the caverns, that's how we'll be getting in. All we gotta do is make it a hundred yards, ok? We're know where we're going now, so we'll turn the lights off, just in case that's how we're been targeted. Right?" His final question was directed to the whole group, but he turned to Lara as he spoke, seeking her endorsement of the plan. She nodded, still showing the effects of adrenaline coursing through her system after the fright, in her posture and breathing. The team split and positioned, the lights were flicked off, and they marched forward into the suffocating black.

* * *

"HELLO!!!" Hillary, hiding alone in a corner of the club, was pounced upon by a drunk, spiky haired, overly happy youth, who grabbed him in a massive hug and squeezed.

A frightened Hillary stood awkwardly, being cuddled, and not quite knowing what to do.

"Hillary, this is Rob!" Bryce appeared over the youth's shoulder and grinned at the stunned butler.

"Hello you!" Rob pulled back to clasp Hillary by the shoulders and shake him.

"Erm..."

"Rob's here celebrating his return to singledom. He bought us drinks!" Bryce proudly held up three Sea Breeze cocktails and smiled, holding one out to Rob, who let go to retrieve his drink, and then shoved one towards Hillary. "Drink. Get drunk. Have fun."

"And forget men," said Rob emphatically before downing his cocktail in one. Just as he tipped his head back up and took a mouthful of air, Girls Aloud started blasting out onto the dance floor. "Ooh! I love this one! Let's dance!" Rob slammed his empty glass down onto a nearby shelf and grabbed his two new friends, shoving them onto the dance floor.

Finding a spot, Bryce and Rob started jumping around to the music and singing, but Hillary just stood there, looking lost. "Um...I'm not...I don't..."

"Nonsense!" Rob yelled, grabbing Hillary in another hug and bouncing him around in a forced, makeshift dance. Hillary's arms waggled around a bit as he tried to break free, but it was no use. Giving in, he slapped Rob on the back a few times.

"That's nice, Rob. Nice. Could you let go?"

* * *

"Where's the drain?" Lara whispered to Kurtis after they had gone ahead what felt like a few yards, but was probably much less in the darkness.

"I don't kn - fuck!" Kurtis' foot went into the drain and he just managed to stop himself from falling, grabbing Lara's arm. "Dammit," he whispered loudly.

Hearing the noise, the rest of the team behind them stopped, and Booker, ahead with Lara and Kurtis, knelt down and felt for the edge of the drain, mapping it out with his hands. Having found it, he grabbed his flashlight and directed it down the drain, illuminating the huge drainage pipe below that led into the Periapt Complex as a handy, naturally formed, wastage dump exploited by the engineers. The man-hole sized opening allowed light to leak up to the explorers, and the team closed in on it, shielding it from anyone that might use it to pinpoint them.

"Why is it open?" Lara wondered aloud. Surely it should have been covered?

"Maybe the subterraneans took advantage of a ready made front door," said Kurtis, taking the light off Booker and turning it off. There was shuffling as he lowered himself into the drains, a slight thud as he dropped to the floor, and then the light returned as he turned on his own flashlight and glanced over his new surroundings. "Seems safe," he said, looking up to Lara who was staring down at him. "Come on in." He looked down at his feet and lifted one boot out of the shallow stream of dirty water flowing along the pipe, shaking his foot slightly and grimacing at the slime that stuck to the toe of his boot. "The water's lovely," he quipped.

Lara smoothly slid down into the drains, landing lightly. "You certainly know where to take the ladies, Kurtis." She turned on her own light and took a look around, running her hand along a large crack in the wall and making a face at the scum that came off on her fingers. "Doesn't seem particularly stable."

"Yeah, you got that right, how old is this?"

Lara looked up to the rest of the team, looking down at them. "Come on," she said, and then took a few steps forward to clear the landing area and checked the compass on her watch to get her bearings.

A scuffle and a cry in the tunnel above grabbed her attention back, as multiple gunfire rang out through the enclosed area with ear-splitting volume, the strobe-like flashes spilling down to her, the noise punctuated by shouts and screams. "Booker!" she called, dashing back to the hole and jumping up. She grabbed onto the rim and began to pull herself up, but Kurtis wrapped his arms securely around her waist and pulled her back down, both of them landing in a heap in the stagnant water and grime.

"No, it'd be suicide to go back up there!" he shouted above the noise, but no sooner had he spoken then sudden silence took back over, followed a spilt second later by the sickening thud of Booker's body collapsing over the entrance, the black fabric of his flak jacket just visible from the muted tones of their fallen torches filling the pipe and creating small shadows in the folds of the material poking down through the drainage hole.

Silence descended on the two as they lay, breathing heavily, listening. Nothing.

Kurtis got to his feet and pulled Lara up, staring up at the body blocking their return trail. "I guess we're on our own."

Lara swallowed hard, scared and shocked by the sudden disposal of the rest of the team. She said nothing, just accepted the light as Kurtis returned it to her and stumbled off towards the end of the pipe, his hand on the small of her back for their guidance and comfort as he followed her, still looking over his shoulder at Booker.


	9. Onto A Pilgrimage

****

**__**

**Ta da! New chapter. Took longer to get up than usual for me, but I was so busy writing what happens after this, I didn't actually get around to writing this. It was tough, so I left it. ;-) Feedback on my how my writing style fits the action scenes would be appreciated, since I don't do action too well. _hint hint_**

_Onto a pilgrimage..._

Lara and Kurtis reached the end of the drainage pipe and looked out. It opened out into a large naturally formed cavern of sandstone, stalactites and stalagmites growing from the floor and ceiling, some having met in the middle to form uneven, rough pillars. The wastewater fell in a waterfall of sludge down for about four feet, pooling on the floor at the bottom. Rains in the area had been sparse for a few days, giving the water time to soak into the porous rock, leaving only a centimetre or so of brown, dirty water. The air was cool, crisp.

Lara vaulted down to the ground and splashed in the pool at the bottom, straightening up even as she took in the area around her. The silence was broken only by the slow trickle of water from the pipe above, and a few louder drips echoing around from an unknown source. Kurtis splashed down beside her. "This might seem like a stupid question, but where's all the light coming from?"

Lara had to admit, she hadn't even realised that it should have been dark. In her years of tombraiding, it just seemed natural for mysterious, unvisited places like that to be lit. "I don't know," she said wonderingly.

They moved forward, looking for a way out. "Over here," called Lara, running her hand along the edge of a small jagged hole in the side of the cave. It was about two feet in diameter and led into a short tunnel that rounded out of sight, also dimly lit from an unknown source. Kurtis came over to her and poked his head through the hole. "Seems to be man-made," said Lara, "but it's very rough, as if it's been chiselled or hacked rather than built properly. I doubt the tunnel engineers did this."

"I think we just found our entrance into the Periapt Complex," said Kurtis, ducking back out to look at Lara. Smiling triumphantly, he climbed in and began crawling along.

* * *

"HELLO!!!" On the dance floor with Hillary and Bryce, Rob caught sight of a group of people that he obviously knew, and launched himself into their midst, instigating a massive group hug and rousing 'hello's and 'Rob!'s from the crowd. Extricating himself from them, he turned and gestured to the two. "This is Bryce and Hillary."

There was silence as the group stared at Lara's employees, not quite knowing what to make of them.

"They're straight," Rob explained.

"HELLO!!!" came the greeting in unison from the larger group, engulfing Bryce and Hillary in another group hug and bouncing around like long lost friends.

* * *

Inside the tunnel, Kurtis crawled slowly along in the cramped space, closely followed by Lara.

"At least this makes our plan easier. Nobody to stop us from taking the shard and running now."

"Don't say that, Kurtis. I don't know what's got them, but I'm sure shooting them with tranquillisers and leaving them to explain to Cheney how they let us get away is far preferable to what's happened to them."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Lara. Cheney is not someone you wanna let down."

"And yet you're willing to try your hand at deceiving him? Run off with the shard and hope he doesn't find you?"

"I'm trying not to think about what will happen if he _does_ find me. Getting tortured and killed is not high up on my list of ambitions right now."

Lara stopped. "Tortured and killed? You could have told me that before you talked me into this."

"Hey." Kurtis stopped and shifted onto his side so that he could look back to Lara. "You were going to steal it yourself, remember?"

"Then you should have warned me what I was up against, shouldn't you?"

"And would you have agreed to help me?"

"No."

"Exactly." He got back on all fours and carried on, Lara also continuing.

"So let's recap," said Lara. "The Company, a not-for profit organisation run by a megalomaniac with a penchant for out of proportion punishments, with offices in hotel rooms, alley ways and undisclosed location office buildings, wants the fourth Periapt Shard to kill a cult leader. You, Kurtis Trent, a loner mercenary, orchestrated my kidnapping and subsequent sale to The Company in order to buy your way into their ranks and procure my assistance in helping you steal said Periapt Shard, so that you may redeem yourself in the eyes of the now extinct Lux Veritatis."

Kurtis stopped again and looked back over his shoulder to Lara, both of them showing clear humour in their eyes. "I never told you that."

"I'm very perceptive."

"I'll say."

The silence returned, cracked rather than broken by the rustling and scuffling of the two as they crawled along the tunnel and the regular dripping of clean, naturally filtered water leaking out from above, landing on their heads and backs and creating tiny pools of cold, crystal liquid in the uneven floor that felt cool and cleansing against their dirty, scraped hands and knees.

"Here we are," whispered Kurtis, reaching the end of the tunnel just around the corner. He stopped, tipped over on one hip and swung his legs around in the confined space so they dangled out of the exit hole. He pushed himself forward and slid out of the tunnel, landing with a reverberating bang on polished stone floor a few feet below.

Lara chose the more stylish method of exit, and went into a forward roll in the mouth of the passage, flipping out and landing expertly on her feet with a much cleaner tap sound. "Show-off," Kurtis muttered, and he was answered with a smug grin.

The polished grey floor stretched across a huge hallway intricately carved into the rock, tall, majestic and cold. Where there were no carvings, the walls were rough and uneven, creating a wonderful union of nature and man. Again, no light sources were visible, but the hallway was awash with a light, flowing orange illumination that created no shadows and no reflections.

"Must be Knights Templar magic," remarked Kurtis, squinting around to the farthest reaches of the space to look for the origin of the mysterious glow.

In reply, Lara only drew her gun and cocked it. "If this place looks like it hasn't been touched since the day it was built, where are all the sub-terraneans?"

"Up in the subway. They attacked us."

"No." Lara shook her head. "They wouldn't live up there. There are too many people and not enough abandoned line."

"Well, maybe we'll find them."

"Or maybe, they'll find us." Lara cocked an eyebrow mischievously at her partner and then set out across the hallway to the other end, inset with two massive oak doors, also lovingly carved, and flanked with two statues.

Lara and Kurtis each went to one, examining them carefully for clues, warnings and information.

"It's God," said Lara, staring up at the figure looming above her, glistening white in limestone

"The Devil," echoed Kurtis, staring up at his own figure, jet and polished to the purest black obtainable.

Lara crossed to the doors and ran her hand over them, feeling the smooth sanded surface as she looked to the carvings, but they were only patterns and offered no clues. "These doors are far too heavy to be pushed open. Those statues must be our way in."

In answer, Kurtis leapt up onto the demon statue and began to negotiate the slippery black surface up to the top to search for clues or devices. Taking any foothold he could find, he braced one foot on the outstretched left arm of the figure. It swung slowly downwards under his weight, causing him to slip and fall as a loud vibration that was more felt than heard took up throughout the hallway. He landed heavily on the shaking ground at the feet of Satan, clutching his arm where it had broken his fall. Long, thick cracks began to radiate out from underneath him that splintered and showed white like fractures in the grey plane.

Lara gasped, darting a glance up at the statue as it began to tilt, sinking unevenly into the collapsing floor as it shattered and broke, revealing through the gaps a huge, black chasm below. She dived away from the door, rolled over the rapidly caving floor, and grabbed Kurtis' arm, breaking him out of his initial shock and pulling him to his feet. They had barely leapt out of the way when the floor gave, the statue dropping down into the black below followed by huge shards of thin rock that once they had been standing on, leaving a gaping, jagged hole in the corner of the hallway.

Lying on the floor that was still standing, only feet from the edge, Lara and Kurtis stared at the destruction, panting. It was Lara who first came to her senses, standing and regaining her usual calm, casual exterior.

"No, silly. When dealing with a Christian Order, never present yourself as one on the left hand of the Devil." She turned and marched over to the statue of God, still standing firmly. Kurtis, still on the floor with a look of utter disbelief on his face, stared after her.

"What?! Are you crazy? I nearly died doing the wrong thing and you're acting as if nothing just happened?"

"Everyone makes mistakes." Lara positioned herself below the right hand of the surviving statue, jumped up nimbly, and caught hold of its fingers, allowing her weight to pull it down with a satisfying stony grind. The huge double doors swung slowly open, presenting beyond them another hallway that ended without visible exit, its cream and red chequered floor stretching evenly out towards blindingly white walls that rose in geometrically grooved smooth limestone to a ceiling concealed in darkness and shadows.

"On we go." Lara strode smartly forward.

* * *

"Is your arm ok?" Lara asked distractedly as they stepped slowly into the next room. Kurtis nodded, too distracted himself to do anything other than gaze up at the massive construction around them.

Staring up and around to the shadows above, they turned in amazed circles as they stumbled blindly forward towards the centre of the room, where a circle of small stones laid on the floor was the only object in the room.

"I cannot believe that this has been under London all this time and no-one knew about it."

"Well, _someone_ knew about it." To illustrate her point, Lara reached into one of her pockets and produced the map of the caverns given to her by The Company, sheathed in plastic and attached to her flak jacket by cord. Unfolding it, she oriented it in what she guessed to be the correct direction. "Looks like the map began in the room we've just come from – 'The Hall of Affiliation', or thereabouts. My translations are rather flimsy."

"So where are we now?"

"It's not named. But according to this there should be an exit at the far end. A note states that, 'To those who will purify themselves for God, the path to His power awaits.'"

"Yeah, well I don't see any exits or Holy Water." Kurtis walked to the walls, as highly polished as the floor in the last room, and ran his fingers along them, feeling the stepped structure that went in and out like tiny alcoves. They both jumped as the massive doors behind them swung shut, swishing through the still air and meeting together with a resounding crash. No sooner had the silence returned then the 'woomph' of a fire coming to life made them snap their heads towards the stone ring at Lara's feet, now surrounding a flickering mass of flames.

"That's weird," Kurtis remarked. Lara returned to examining the map and, engrossed in her work, didn't notice her partner stiffen as he got the unmistakable feeling of being watched, or raise his head up slowly, dreading what he'd see. She jumped, reflexively drawing and aiming her gun as he yelped and leapt backwards, drawing his own weapon and opening fire on a straggly haired creature that launched itself down on him from the shadows above.

It was hit immediately, and fell under the stream of bullets, screaming out in an inhuman voice and collapsing to the floor, a small stream of blood flowing from underneath and pooling at Kurtis' feet.

"What the fuck...?" Kurtis bent down to examine his attacker. Almost humanoid, it held itself as though it had walked on all fours. Thick, tangled brown hair fell from all over its body, but it was patchy and thinly spread, revealing an almost white skin underneath. Tipping the head, it became clear that the thing had least once been human. The distinctly human features were altered slightly by centuries in the dark – the eyes appeared grey, unhealthy, as though rarely used, and the nose and ears were enlarged. Its protruding teeth were long with pronounced canines, and its finger and toe nails were long but chipped and broken.

"A sub-terranean," Lara stated.

"Yeah." Kurtis let the creature's head drop and stood, checking his weapon.

The eerie silence was broken by an unearthly cacophony of squeaks, taps, squeals and snarls as a thousand sub-terraneans descended, crawling down the polished walls with their nails scraping and clicking and their voices declaring war for their dead brother.

They swept towards the two intruders like an unstoppable wave, not even hesitating under the onslaught of weapons fire rained down on them.

Sub-terraneans fell, their comrades seething over them as though they were nothing. Lara and Kurtis, back to back, sprayed bullets left and right, dropping the enemy like flies, but they were still never-ending, and the crest of the wave drew ever closer.

"We have to get out of here!" screamed Kurtis over his shoulder.

And then the animals were on them, scratching, biting and clawing, drawing blood and cowing their victims under their teeth and claws.

"The fire!" Lara screamed, ducked under arms and shooting blindly. "Fire is purifying!"

"What?!" Kurtis cried back over the din of gunfire and surging sub-terraneans.

"Jump into the fire!" Lara turned and wrapped her arms around Kurtis' waist, pulling him with her as she put all her strength into her legs and pushed off against the ground, sending them flying sideways through the air and straight into the fire.

Just as the flames licked at their arms in that first moment of heat, a sound like steel being sharpened against stone filled their ears over the sound of the attack, and the air around them ripped open to a barely visible doorway that sucked them in and immediately closed behind them.

They fell to the ground, half expecting to burn, but instead felt the cold, hard impact of rocky sand barely covering a hard rock face beneath them as they landed in a heap, the wind knocked out of them and their bodies bashed and bruised.

Kurtis' eyes slid shut in pain. "Ow."

"What do you have to complain about," Lara got out between deep breaths after her exertion, "you're the one that landed on my arm."

"Sorry," he grunted, picking himself up and reaching down to help up Lara. He grabbed her by her forearms and pulled her bodily up as her legs almost gave way beneath her. "You ok?"

"I'll be fine. Just winded." She continued breathing heavily, finding her legs and pulling away from Kurtis, but he only let go once he had searched her eyes for signs of deception and found none.

"Where the _hell _are we now?" They looked around. The floor, as they had felt, was hard rock covered in a smattering of sand with sharp stones scattered across randomly. The walls were shrouded almost completely in shadow, this area lit instead by flickering burning torches that threw out dancing shades of orange and yellow flitting across the cracked, naked, red rock.

Lara checked the map. "Assuming the doorway we just took was the one marked as the exit on the map – 'Pergatory'.

"Pergatory?" Kurtis repeated, looking at Lara with a look of utter distaste, "That cannot be good."


	10. Of Trials

**Thankyou, IndyAngel, for reviewing. I'm glad you like this and its predecessors.  
Godess-Brigid - Thanks! Kurtis was hard work to begin with but I think I'm getting the hang of him now, I'm glad he's believable. Bryce and Hillary will return shortly, never fear!  
Godavari - As ever, thankyou for your feedback. :-) I like to keep people guessing. Hee Hee  
Everybody else - Review, or Kurtis gets it! evil laugh **

_...of Trials..._

"So – what do we do now?" Kurtis took out his torch and flicked it on, swinging it around the cave and finding nothing save for the hard, plain floor and rough rock walls.

"Look for something we've missed." Lara strode boldly forward across the area towards the opposite wall as Kurtis turned away and shone his flashlight up into the furthest reaches of the space, squinting into the shadows to try and make out anything hiding within the plain, unyielding rock faces. He heard a sound like crumbling rock and a yelp, and spun, only to see Lara's raised arms disappearing into a hole in the floor. An almost immediate thud sounded as he ran towards her, and he dropped to his knees at the side of the gap and looked down to see her gingerly picking herself up from a dark granite outcrop below, surrounded by the remnants of the floor she had been standing on only moments ago before it had cruelly dropped away from under her.

"Lara! Are you ok?"

She coughed and got to her feet, wincing, before looking up to him, her face marred by rock dust. "Yes, I'm fine."

No sooner had she spoken then the ground beneath her partner cracked, and before either of them could react, Kurtis found himself falling, limbs flailing as he was banged and bruised by the plummeting rock around him until he too made contact with the ledge below, crying out as he hit it with the length of his body with a painful thud. Lara silently pulled him to his feet and together they stared up at where they had been standing only moments before.

"I guess that was supposed to happen."

Lara looked out across the scenery below them which more than answered Kurtis' question. "I guess it was."

From a featureless cave with no discernable way in or out, they had fallen onto a large stable ledge jutting out from a grey cliff face that plunged down into a fast flowing river, crystal clear and visibly cold. The ceiling of the cavern was not far above them, and meeting it in a rough vertical face a few feet across from the ledge was another rock face, that dropped down four or five metres before sloping sharply away above the water, drawing their gaze away towards the far side of the cavern. There, the slanted cliff again became vertical, a wall that housed a small rectangular doorway carved into the rock with a small ledge in front of it by way of a welcome mat, and cold white light spilling in to harshly light the cave. The air was chilled in their lungs as they breathed it in, savouring the cooling oxygen that cleared their heads and left them alert, assisting them in the trials to come. Everywhere was grey, featureless, devoid of feeling or idea.

"I thought Purgatory was cleansing, not boring," quipped Kurtis.

"I'll bet the cleansing begins with this climb. Besides, hell is hot and fiery, heaven is white and cloudy. Purgatory is clearly going to be middle of the road and...non descript."

"Uh huh," said Kurtis disparagingly.

Ignoring him, Lara took a couple of steps back and then launched herself into a flying leap towards the overhang, grabbing onto it at the last second and clinging like a bat. Satisfied that she had her hold, she slowly began to scale the wall downwards, easily coping with the change in gradient and switching to just her hands towards the end as her feet began to slip away. Sighing, resigned to the tough climb that he had no choice but to take, Kurtis followed suit, moving faster and more easily with his superior strength. It was Lara that held the lead in agility, however, and though she dropped lightly and gracefully to her feet at the door, Kurtis landed heavily, wincing as the impact jarred his legs.

"Balls of the feet, knees bent," Lara offered, turning and hopping into the doorway. It marked the beginning of a long thin corridor that was flooded with light, overwhelming her eyes and causing her to squint as she fought to make out details. "I'll wager anything you like that this corridor is not what it seems."

"Joy," said Kurtis dryly. "Tell you what, you go ahead, I'll follow."

Lara looked over her shoulder and smiled, relishing the challenge ahead and amused by Kurtis' lack of a sense of adventure.

It was at times like this that her intense training back at the manor came in handy. With the money to buy custom built equipment and Bryce's almost homicidal control of the traps, every sense that she had was fine tuned to identify and act on danger without her even having to think about it. Which was exactly how, after only three steps in, she found herself jumping back out of the way of a large chopping blade that swung out of the wall and attacked her midriff, thereafter continuing the action with a terrifying metal clanging, the blade glinting sharply in the light. Kurtis, visibly shaken, let out a long shuddering sigh as Lara adjusted her own body to the sudden rush of adrenaline.

"Well," said Lara briskly, eyeing the blade. Rocking back and forth as she gauged the blade's movements, she then took a step forward and jumped high, sailing over the blade as it retracted back ready for another attack. Landing expertly, she turned back to Kurtis. "Be careful there."

Another step forward activated a similar blade, this time at head height, and Lara simply ducked underneath it before hopping off the next section of floor that shook under her weight and then fell away, revealing below a smooth sided pit that dropped metres down to a glistening pool of the same cold clear water, an eventual drowning pool for any unlucky soul not fast enough off the mark. Ahead of her started a whirling, spinning selection of sharp, intricately shaped blades carved out of beautiful but deadly crystal that spun, twirled and thrust in and out of the walls and floors in a shining storm of mortal weapons, too fast, close and complex to dodge or outwit.

Before Lara had time to consider a way through, a swishing sound behind her made her look around, and her fast reactions again took over as she leapt, without thinking, onto an axe swinging down along the length of the corridor. The half-moon head was encased in wood along the top side to join it to shaft, providing safe, stable foothold for Lara, who steadied herself with her hands on the shaft. The axe reached its pinnacle above the centre of the bladed trial ahead and swung back again, giving Lara enough time to realise what it was she had to do and to prepare.

Leaning forward as the axe began its forward swing once again, she spurred its motion on, adding momentum to further its arc, before setting her best foot forward and, as she reached her highest point, propelling herself forward into a somersault that sent her flying safely over the remaining obstacles, executing a full turn and landing in a dizzying forward roll at the end, coming to a rest on one knee.

The ordeal was not quite over as another half moon blade swept down from her right, forcing her to flatten herself against the floor with a gasp. It cut through the air just inches above her head and carried on up and away to the left, lending respite enough for Lara to scramble out of the way.

Reaching safety as last, she turned back to find Kurtis watching the still swinging axe that she had used for her own escape, timing his actions in order to jump the water whilst the danger was out of the way. Making it across, he followed Lara's lead and hopped onto the axe as it passed, riding it back and then forwards again, diving off it, and, in a show of amazing agility that far surpassed anything expected of him, grabbed onto the horizontal axe as it continued to swing, pulling himself towards it and planting his feet neatly on the head as before, before hopping off and landing in front of Lara with an exhilarated grin on his face.

"Balls of the feet, knees bent."

Lara laughed, impressed and relieved that they'd both made it through. "Come on. Yet more awaits. You can go first this time, if you want."

They exited the corridor into another grey, dull cavern, smaller than the last. Almost perfectly rectangular, its length led up to another doorway, this one dark and foreboding. The traps this time were not so cunningly hidden.

A mass of spikes on the floor from wall to wall provided an easy but time consuming challenge. After that, a huge rolling blade went from side to side across the path, then the floor dropped away into a pit, the bottom of which couldn't be seen. On the other side of that remained only a stretch of floor marked by carvings, the details of which were invisible from their position.

Together, they set off across the spikes, slowly picking their way through. Kurtis swore quietly as he caught his pants leg on one, tearing it, but they both reached the other side in safety.

Lara, taking the remaining obstacles in her stride, hummed a tune to herself as she timed a dash across the path of the rolling blade and then took it, running straight towards the pit. On her approach she saw a slippery slope down to another mass of spikes with the other side of the pit a vertical wall. Without hesitation she continued onto the edge, riding the slope downwards and then, when close enough, pushing off and grabbing onto the top of the vertical face opposite, pulling herself back onto level ground and turning to watch Kurtis as he too took the jump from the slope to the pit edge and climbed back up. Standing, he brushed himself off and then slid his palms over each other to remove the dirt and dust. "Easy," he grinned.

"Good," replied Lara brightly, who then skipped off towards the carved floor. It was marked into octagons, each with a letter on its face.

"Didn't Indiana Jones do this?" Kurtis asked.

"Hmmm," said Lara, taking out and examining the map. "According to this, the final Shard should be through that door. We're still in Purgatory. It doesn't say anything else, though."

She replaced the map and they both looked around, hoping to spot some clue as why the letters were on the floor. "Up there." Lara spied some geometric scratchings in the rock above them that revealed themselves, under the glare of her torch, to be angular letters, forming Latin words. "Call upon the prophet of the Lord to escort you to his presence," she translated slowly.

"Jesus?"

"Maybe," Lara said, thoughtfully. She looked for and found a letter J, and gingerly stepped onto it, keeping her weight centred over the nearer ground, suspicious that something nasty would happen if she were wrong. She was, and it did.

Slowly increasing her weight, the stone eventually gave way beneath her, sinking down below the level of its companions until a gap appeared around the sides. Flames, hot and high, leapt up around the edges in an octagon of fire. Yelping in fright, Lara jumped and tumbled backwards, landing on the ground.

"You ok?" Kurtis ran to her side, one hand on her shoulders to help her sit up and the other on her leg, caught momentarily in the flames. He checked it over as Lara winced, feeling the heat spreading through her flesh at the minor burn.

"Yes," she grimaced. "It barely caught me. I'll be ok."

"Here, flatten it against the floor." Kurtis pushed her leg down, forcing her to straighten it and lay her calf on the cold stone floor, soothing the pain and sucking out the venomous heat.

"Not Jesus," said Lara, staring out over the lettered crossing.

"Didn't Indiana Jones make the mistake of going for a J instead of an I?"

"Jehovah is spelt with an I in Latin," Lara explained. "That's what he was trying to spell. But I don't think either of those are our words."

"Then what?"

"This place was built by the Knights Templar, wasn't it? Well, if I remember my history correctly, they were accused of heretics partly for idolatry – a head called Baphomet. Some historians believe that Baphomet is a lingual corruption of God, wisdom, things like that, even Mohammed. But there's evidence to suggest that he was actually a spiritualist executed for claiming union with God."

"So you think that's our prophet?"

"If they him worshipped as a Martyr, could be." Lara got to her feet, rubbing her burnt calf, and walked the length of the tiles until she came to a B. "Kurtis – your gun."

He obliged, taking hold of the automatic rifle slung around his back and handling the end, stabbing the B lettered tile visciously with the butt. The tile lowered slightly and then popped back up, pushing against the weight of the gun and standing proud of the rest of the floor by a full inch. Kurtis and Lara looked to each other, smiling. "Bingo," said Lara.

She stepped onto the raised tile and looked around for an 'A'. Finding one, she hopped nimbly over to it, continuing her path gracefully all the way over to the shadowy doorway, followed closely by Kurtis.

Stepping into the darkness, they walked blindly through a short corridor before stepping out into a huge cavern, their attention immediately drawn to a stone column in the very centre.

"There it is," Lara smiled.


	11. And Tribulations

**Next chapter up already - you lucky people. ;-) No, I've not been working feverishly - I wrote this before I wrote the previous two chapters, since it was easier. I was hiding from the action scenes. LOL**

_...and Tribulations_

The duo took in their surroundings, checking for final traps. An even flagstone floor stretched out throughout the cave, disappearing in all directions into deep shadows that camouflaged the walls and created their own false ceiling. The column that could only contain their prize stood in the centre, a luminous feature creating its own ephereal domain against the darkness. Slowly, stealthily, Lara crept towards it. Decorated with red and green triangles outlined in gold, the flat top was empty. Mindful of last-minute booby traps, she gasped as her foot fell on a flagstone directly in front of the structure that sunk into the floor as her weight depressed it. With the grinding of stone against stone, the top of the column flipped itself over on invisible hinges, presenting – an empty cradle where the Periapt Tip was supposed to rest.

A myriad of clicks filled the room behind and above her, and Lara spun to find herself face to face with her 'dead' teammates, emerged from the shadows with their guns cocked and aimed, red laser targets dancing over her torso.

A slow, sarcastic clapping snatched her already confused attention away to the back of the room, once again behind her. Closing her eyes in realisation, Lara cursed silently and scolded herself. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Mr Cheney." Her voice relayed the now obvious.

He came to her side and smiled, his eyes amused as they met her own, stormy. "Bravo. Quite a performance. And the same could be said for our fine actors, don't you think?" He gestured to Lara's mutinous team, a subtle laugh escaping from his lips. "You didn't doubt their deaths for a second, did you?"

"No. Absolutely fabulous." Lara sounded her applause, mocking and sophisticated in the face of adversity as ever. "Though I think it's Mr Trent that deserves the Oscar, don't you?" She smiled at him sarcastically where he stood behind the soldiers, shifting uncomfortably and refusing to meet her gaze. Pathetic, she thought. "He was so convincing in this whole charade, even though he knew that you – had – the Shard – all – along." She turned back to Cheney, her eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Indeed we did."

"And this was..." Lara gestured to the general surroundings – soldiers who'd faked their own deaths, the trip through the Periapt Complex, Kurtis' lies.

"A test." Mr Cheney started pacing contemplatively, hands clasped loosely behind his back, long wool coat swaying gently. "We needed someone strong, and you seemed a likely candidate. Making it through the Periapt Complex was...proof that you were what we were looking for. You'll notice that Kurtis specifically did nothing to assist you."

"And you got the Shard how?"

"Through the back door." Cheney stopped and smiled at Lara, then, at her puzzled expression, gestured to a dark corner of the cavern. "There's a doorway out that can only be opened from the inside using the Shard – or from the outside using C4 explosive. I don't think the Knights Templar foresaw that particular triumph of pyrotechnics." He laughed quietly again, then raised his voice so that it could be heard by those further away. "I believe we're done here. Mr Trent, you assured me that you're one of the few that can handle the good Ms Croft – if you could oblige."

Kurtis stepped forward, the reluctance in his movements clear to Lara, but they bought no sympathy with her. Forcing him to meet her gaze as he reached her, she spoke, her voice quiet and matter-of-fact.

"Traitor."

"Lara..." he began, but Cheney cut him off, barking an order. "Mr Trent! Today!"

Kurtis' eyes closed briefly, the expression on his face pained. Slowly, he raised his gun between them and clicked the safety off. "Let's go."

Lara turned and ran. Ducking down and flailing her arms as she tried to keep her head protected, she sprinted for the exit earlier pointed out by Mr Cheney as bullets rained down around her, the sounds of ricochets and chipping stone filling the cave with a deafening row that only fuelled her on. She heard Kurtis scream her name, but if it meant anything to her, she did nothing.

The doorway loomed up ahead of her, what glances she managed to snatch in her haste revealing its rubble laden form to open into a dark, barely lit passage way. Throwing herself through, she skidded to a halt and spun sideways, her arms arcing out for balance as she glanced behind her, the clatter of footsteps as her enemies took chase echoing through the space and spurring her on to turn and scramble up the rapidly ascending rocky slope, only metres ahead of her pursuit.

The dark concealing her and the confined space protecting her from gunfire that would have risked the opposition too much for them to open fire, she became more confident that she might just make it. Her arms were bruised, scratched and cut as she ran blindly, feeling her way with the collisions of her body against the hard rock and scrabbling over the stony, uneven surface. The tunnel rounded sharply, and Lara cried out as she ran straight into the wall as it curved, carrying on along the new path and stopping abruptly as she found herself in a pool of light falling down from above, water at her feet. It took only a split second for her to realise that the true path lay under the water, glistening blackly like jet in the night spilling down from the hole drilled into the rock above her. The hole led straight up to the surface and was furnished with a new, steel ladder drilled in place along its length of three or four metres – clearly, the doorway was not the only thing that The Company had blasted into submission. Praying that the commotion far too close behind her would mask the splash, she took a breath and dove into the water, disappearing into the blackness that sucked her in with an icy mouth.

* * *

Kurtis, heading the group, rounded the corner of the passage-way and took the few steps to the water's edge just as it began to return to the still normality of an undisturbed surface, his eyes fixed on the final, slow ripples. The soldiers came close behind, clattering to a halt and making way for Mr Cheney as he shoved his way through from the back.

"Where did she go?" he demanded, his face in Kurtis', eyes flashing in anger.

"I don't know. Up the ladder, I guess. She moves pretty fast."

"What about the water?"

"Lara's crazy, but she isn't stupid. She isn't about to go diving into ice-cold water without air for god knows how long without thinking it through first."

Cheney spun round to face his team, still blazing with anger. "Well?! You heard him, get up there!"

Obediently, the team began to scramble up the ladder, diving out onto the surface and dispersing in a search pattern, leaving Cheney staring up at them, and Kurtis staring down at the silent, inky depths of the pool, looking like they hadn't been broken in a thousand years.

* * *

Forcing herself to stay calm, Lara kept her movements to a minimum to conserve oxygen as she used her hands to pull herself along the top of the deep, winding water-filled tunnel that she had dived into, praying that she'd find air soon. It was pitch black – too dark to swim – and her only hope was to feel her way along the path wherever it may lead.

The roof of the tunnel began to curve upwards, but the floor that her feet had been dragging along in an attempt to find extra guidance, dropped away from underneath her. If there was any air, it was going to be up, so she continued walking herself along the rocky side, her body relaxing in relief as her eyes managed to grab onto the tiniest amount of light beginning to filter through from above. Pushing herself off the rock face, she swam for the surface, her lungs beginning to feel the strain and her muscles beginning to cramp from the debilitating cold. Slowly, gradually, it got lighter, and just as she thought that she wouldn't make it, memories of nearly dying in the tunnels in her swimming pool back home threatening to pull her into a panic, she broke the surface, gasping in noisy lungfuls of air, splashing at the surface as her body spasmed at the last strangling moment of oxygen deprivation.

Managing to gain control of herself once again, her head darted around as she took in her surroundings. Trees, streetlights, a pathway alongside the edge of the water that stretched parallel in either direction for as far as she could see – a river. Lara was in the River Thames.

Laughing in relief, she swam for the edge, hauling herself onto dry land and rolling over onto her side, immediately curling into a ball and rubbing her forearms in a desperate attempt to warm up. Her teeth chattered, and she knew that unless she got moving soon, and fast, hypothermia would set in. She pulled herself to her feet and shed her dripping flak jacket that only served to make her colder and flung it into the river to be lost to the depths. She wrung out her ponytail, brushed off as many droplets of water off her arms and legs as she could manage, and began running.

* * *

Mr Cheney, shadowed by Kurtis, stood and stared out over the moor land above the Periapt Complex, watching the Company agents that had lost Lara try to find her again. Over the other side of the moor, a helicopter swept a search light back and forth, the muted beats of its blades providing a comforting backdrop in the otherwise quiet, windy environment. Booker, the most senior of the team, tramped over the muddy grass and addressed his boss.

"Mr Cheney, Sir – she must have gone into the water. It's unlikely that she made it up the ladder and out onto the moor before we got there, but downright impossible that she'd get away from us up here. We've got your helicopter sweeping the area, people using infrared, Prosser's our best tracker and she can't find any evidence Croft was even here."

Cheney pursed his lips and stared out over the wilderness, considering the statement. And then, without turning around, he said, "Oh, Mr Trent. I'm beginning to think that you might have lied." He looked over his shoulder at Kurtis, who stared back and stood his ground, the only tell-tale sign of fear a dry swallow. Cheney moved in on his prey, a sly smile crossing his face. "She was only seconds ahead of us, and it isn't too much of a leap of the imagination to think that you saw her jump in and decided to let her get away." He began to circle Trent, who stood stock still and fought to keep his breathing under control. "You did promise me that you wouldn't let her work any charms on you, but a woman like that is very dangerous, and you're looking more and more unlike the strong-willed type." He came to rest in front of Kurtis, staring at him with hard eyes, daring him to disagree.

"I'll find her. Give me the resources of The Company, and I'll track her down. I know her, I know the way she thinks. I'll get her back to you, and your plan can go ahead with no more interruptions." To the casual listener, Kurtis' voice was sure and steady, but Cheney didn't miss the underlying tremble, complementing the slight shake of muscles that were held too tensely in a show of relaxation.

"Don't disappoint me, Trent. You've seen what happens to people who disappoint me. Death's the easy part."

Kurtis nodded once, quickly, and ran off to the van that had brought Lara and team here, to stock up on equipment and get moving before his second chance was retracted.

* * *

Hillary collapsed onto his bed back in the hotel and lay, breathing heavier than usual after the exertion of his night on the town. It was the first time he'd been still in almost four hours. "That was fun."

"Told you it would be." Bryce fell back onto his own bed and pulled off his shoes, kicking them tiredly towards the nightstand and flicking his socks over towards his suitcase, beginning a laundry pile.

"Rob was funny, wasn't he?"

"Rob was nuts." Bryce got up and shuffled towards the bathroom to prepare for some much needed sleep.

Hillary pulled himself back to a sitting position and picked up the TV remote control, flicking on the set and hopping through the channels available. "Hey, look – TV Japanese lessons!" He settled back into the pillows and began to emulate the words slowly spoken by the Japanese actress pretending to order dinner in a restaurant.

Inside the bathroom, Bryce rolled his eyes and began to brush his teeth.

* * *

By luck or coincidence, Bryce had kept his old London flat and it just happened to be not too far from where Lara had surfaced. Offering up a silent prayer of thanks, she ran through the streets, feeling the exhaustion before the body heat, which could only mean that she was far, far too cold.

The flat was one he'd shared during his student days. After graduation, he'd landed employment with Lara (lack of ideas of what else he could do to earn a living had pushed him to achieve the practically impossible and convince her that she needed him) and, whilst he cleared up a final few affairs that tied him to London before he could move to Croft Manor, she paid the rent on his flat that he could no longer afford now that his flatmates had moved out to their own employment. It had proved useful in offering shelter to Lara or Hillary on their frequent visits to the nation's capital, breaking up trips beginning and ending with long drives, proving to be far cheaper than a stay in an airport hotel before an early flight and acting as a nice storage locker for bits and pieces that no-one really knew what else to do with, so once Bryce had moved into his trailer in the manor, the lease was kept between him and Lara, and the flat became a halfway house for anybody wishing to use it.

And Lara had never been so grateful for it. What few articles that would have been useful that she'd brought to the expedition had been thrown away in the flak jacket, presumed useless after the cold and wet, her guns would never have survived the water, and she certainly hadn't bought a credit card or money with her.

She pushed open the door to the block of flats and jogged up the stairs, the dingy brown carpet faded and stained and the drab olive coloured walls chipped and scuffed. It was very definitely private accommodation aimed at students, and the perfect place to lie low. Reaching the third floor flat, she didn't even pause at her lack of a key. Checking that no-one was around, she aimed a hefty kick at the door and it swung open, banging back against the chair placed behind it and almost swinging closed again before Lara put her hand out to stop it and stepped inside.

She shut the door behind her, but it no longer closed properly, and it certainly didn't lock. Sighing in frustration, she grabbed the nearby chair and jammed it under the handle, then proceeded to back it up with the sideboard. The lights were flicked on, the curtains drawn, and then she went in search of clothes, food, drink and warmth.

She turned the gas fire on full, trotted into the bedroom to pull on some of the old clothes stored in a suitcase for emergencies, wrapped her hair up in a towel, and then searched the kitchen, finding powdered milk and teabags for a hot cup of tea, and boiling the kettle for that and for a filling, warming Pot Noodle found in one of the cupboards. There were very few other provisions. She considered going to one of the numerous student parties that was no doubt going on in the building and borrowing a phone to contact Bryce and Hillary but she was reluctant to not only risk giving away her position to The Company who, no doubt, had all the resources in the world to find her and probably weren't too far from finding out about the flat anyway, but also risking Bryce and Hillary by dragging them into the mess. Lara sighed, taking a hungry mouthful of the processed food and rubbing her temple where a tension headache was beginning to surface.

There was a handgun stashed under a floorboard, that would have to do until morning. Croft needed food, sleep, warmth and a shower, and couldn't think straight until she had them. Hopefully a decision about her next move could wait a few hours, until she'd rested.

* * *

Kurtis Trent stopped, standing in the middle of the road in a deserted, badly lit side street in the centre of London. He'd returned to The Company's headquarters to drop off things he didn't need and pick up others that he did, taking the time to change into a less conspicuous outfit of his own clothes instead of the combat gear he had been wearing, and to borrow a car. After driving a while, he'd become confident that he was away from the prying eyes of the members of The Company he'd left behind and could finally start his search for Lara without the feeling that Cheney was still looking over his shoulder. He didn't quite know how he was going to track her down if she wasn't where he hoped she was, but he definitely didn't want Cheney seeing his search hit dead ends.

He glanced back to check the parking of the Jeep Wrangler he'd borrowed, took out a cell phone and dialled an unlisted number, putting the handset to his ear and waiting for an answer. The ring tone stopped, suggesting the line had been answered, but no-one spoke.

"This is Kurtis Trent – on guest authorisation by Cheney." The line went dead. It was just another of The Company's little games masquerading as security measures. Until they'd checked his clearance, they were going to pretend they didn't even exist. Just moments later his phone rang, and he answered the line, placing it to his ear again and mimicking their own actions by not speaking.

"You're cleared," said a female voice.

"I need you to track an address down for me. An apartment in central London. Leased to either Lara Croft or Bryce Turing."

"That's all you have?"

"Used to be rented by students, so you can rule out anything too expensive."

Silence pervaded for several minutes but the line was held open. Kurtis moved over to the side of the street and leant against a wall, waiting, his spare hand stuffed deep in his leather jacket pocket against the cold, an old empty chip wrapper playing against his boots where his toes had caught it in the middle of its wind-driven tumble down the street.

"Flat 24, Ulmer Court, Hampton Avenue."

"Any idea how I get there?"

"Says here you have Jeep No 3?"

"Yeah."

"I'll download the co-ordinates of the building to the GPS system in the car. You'll find it in the glove box."

"Thanks."

The line once again went dead, and Kurtis trudged back to his Jeep, wrapping his leather jacket tightly around him.

* * *

Dawn was breaking as Kurtis pulled up outside Ulmer Court, Hampton Avenue.

He found his way up to Flat 24, noting the drab décor and badly maintained structure as he went, wondered why Lara didn't just find somewhere nicer to rent, and pulled out his gun.

He ever so slowly and carefully tried the door handle – it stuck fast, but the bottom of the door bent in slightly under his weight. Sighing, he removed his credit card from his wallet and, starting from the bottom, ran it along the crack between the door and the frame. It passed through the place where the lock should have been and continued on to the ceiling. That could only mean that she'd been here, kicked in the door, and now had something jammed under the handle, which meant that unless she'd found another way out, she was still in there. He quickly replaced his credit card in his jacket and shouldered the door, hoping to knock the blockage out of the way. After two shunts nothing gave, but on the third the door swung wide open and Kurtis tumbled into the flat. He fell, his leg hitting a haphazardly placed sideboard painfully, and found himself staring straight up at Lara, who stood above him with a triumphant smile on her lips, the offending chair in one hand, and a gun in the other pointed squarely at his head.

"Hello, Kurtis."


	12. Second Assessment

** - Godavari, come back with my Kurtis _right now_!! Tut. ;-) You're probably going to get the burning marshmallows ready by the end of this chapter, but rest assured all is not clear just yet and if Kurtis thinks he's home free....well, we'll just have to see.****  
- Lara-is-my-rolemodel - Lara spelt out 'Baphomet', a name known to be important to the Knights Templar, though no-one can agree why. In this story I took the theory that he was a sort of martyr highly respected by the Knights. Thanks for your compliments. :-)  
Great reviews, everyone, keep 'em coming!**

**A Reminder - at the end of Home 1, we found Lara almost drowning in an underwater maze in her mansion, the computer having malfunctioned and locked her in. At the end of Home 2, we found out that the malfunction was not due to a virus as originally thought, but to Kurtis getting drunk and rewriting the program, which he then forgot about. His guilt caused him to leave without saying goodbye. Remember that, it's important.**

_Second Assessment_

"Hello, Lara." Kurtis swallowed, wondering if she was going to pull the trigger.

"Do stand up." Lara kicked the door shut and shoved the chair back behind it, keeping the gun trained on its target. He obliged, clambering to his feet and rubbing his injured leg. "Please, take a seat." Lara's voice brooked no argument, and her actions suggested the chair placed against the door. Doing as he was told, he sat down, watching Lara warily as she opened a drawer in the sideboard and pulled out a packet of garden ties used to secure plants to canes. Kurtis realised what they were for and glared at the plants out on the balcony that the ties obviously belonged to. Straightening up, stiff and tired after the night's events, he readily clasped his hands behind the chair back and moved his feet next to each of the front chair legs. Lara, one hand still holding the weapon, used the other hand and her teeth to secure a tie tightly around her captive's wrists and then moved on to his ankles, setting the gun down.

"I was far more accommodating when I held you captive." Lara didn't answer, so Kurtis continued, "Any other time, I might be up for this game, but this really isn't – "

"Shut it, Kurtis." Lara, finishing her job, picked up the gun again and went and settled in an armchair opposite him, pointing the gun lazily in his general direction. "Now, I'm a little confused. Be a gentleman and clear things up for me, would you?"

"With regards to us? Well, I _like_ a little friction in my relationships – " That particular stalling tactic was quickly ended when a bullet whistled past Kurtis' ear and embedded itself in the door.

Kurtis let out a low whistle, determined to carry on joking. "Uptight much? Someone will have heard that, y'know."

"Student's cars are notorious for backfiring. They have better things to spend their student loans on than MOTs."

"Alright – fine. How do you wanna play this?"

"Seriously. Explain everything. From the beginning."

Kurtis sighed a long tired sigh, and then closed his eyes and let his head drop back. "Great – I haven't slept in twenty hours, I've been tomb raiding with the best, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and she wants to talk. Just like a woman," he groaned.

"Kurtis!"

"Alright, alright!" He shifted in his chair, trying and failing to get more comfortable.

* * *

A shrill ring screamed out into the room, breaking the silence with an almost audible smash, backed up a split second later by an identical alarm from a nearby identical source. The two sounds clashed disharmoniously, torturing Bryce and Hillary into picking up the ringing phones by their beds before they had even woken up.

"Good morning, Sir, this is your six a.m. wake up call."

Bryce's sleep fogged brain couldn't even identify the meaning of the words, let alone where they were coming from, but Hillary, on the other phone, was quicker off the mark. "Thankyou," he said, hanging up. Bryce's extension phone accordingly went dead just as he realised what was going on. He stared around the still dark room, the furniture visible only as shadows lit by the streetlights creeping in from around the curtains, and then groaned, letting his head hit the pillow once more.

"Come on," Hillary strained as he forced himself to get out of bed. "We have to get down to Newcastle-under-Lyme and buy that dagger back." He flicked on the bedside light, adding an ethereal warm orange glow that coaxed Bryce's eyelids into flickering open.

"Where is Newcastle-under-Lyme anyway? Never heard of it."

"The Midlands, somewhere. Near Stoke-on-Trent, the man said."

"Stoke. Great." Bryce threw back his covers and sucked in a breath through his teeth as the cold night air still lingering in the early morning hit him. "Always wanted to go there."

"Lara's due back tonight," Hillary called from the bathroom.

"I know," Bryce yelled back, and then, to himself he muttered, "And we'd better be back first or there'll be hell to pay."

* * *

"From the beginning," Kurtis said under his breath as he decided where to start, and then, more audibly, "Ok. From the beginning." He shifted again and settled his eyes on Lara, curled up in the chair with the gun pointing in his general direction and a steaming cup of tea in her other hand.

"Don't suppose I could have one of those?"

"Has anybody ever told you that you have ADD, Kurtis?"

"Fine, fine." Another resigned sigh. "After I left your place I decided to stick around and see the scenery. Not been to England before. I rented a car and set out travelling the length of the Trent River, visiting my namesakes as it were. There I was, in this little brewing town called Burton on Trent, enjoying the local beer and talent, walking along the river bank, when these guys come walking up behind me, grab my arms, shove a gun in my ribs, and march me off to this black van. I think it was a Ford, maybe a Vauxhall –"

He was cut off by Lara, shouting him down with loud, snapped words. "Facts, Kurtis, get to what I need to know, I don't have all day. _Stop stalling._"

Trent looked offended, clicked his jaw in annoyance, and started again.

"I got picked up by The Company. I'd heard rumours about them, it's hard not to when you hang around some of the people I deal with. I'd heard they were government, real powerful, not the kind of people you wanna be messing with. Anyway, they get hold of me and tell me the whole story. That they're actually above the governments, in a kind of international co-operative venture that deals with the worst of the global security threats. They're made up of the best of the best from hundreds of countries, all working together. Even countries that are at war with each other work side by side when it comes to The Company, and it's all run by this guy, Mr Cheney. Now, the six most powerful nations in the world each have one representative on an oversight committee that keeps The Company in check, and Mr Cheney answers to them and them only. So you can imagine this guy's pretty powerful.

"Therein lies the problem. Mr Cheney, so he tells me, works to his own set of rules, doesn't think that he really needs anybody to tell him what to do. He's on a total power trip and he's running all sorts of unofficial missions to sort out the security threats they have to deal with. The Periapt Tip project is one of them."

He stopped then, and swallowed thirstily, adding a dry cough for effect. "Could I please have some water? Please?" Lara sighed but conceded, standing and moving into the kitchen. As soon as her back was turned Kurtis began flexing his wrists, straining against the plastic holding them together and grimacing as the thin strips cut into his flesh. A snap sounded and he just managed to grab the broken plastic between his fingers before it fell to floor, well within Lara's view from the armchair. Just then the water running in the kitchen stopped, and he quickly settled down again, holding his wrists against each other as if nothing had happened. Lara returned with a glass and straw, holding it to his lips and letting him drink.

"Thanks," he said between sips, and then he continued as Lara returned to her seat. "The cult I told you about is very, very powerful and dangerous. They're committing murders, kidnappings, planning assassinations, the works, because their leader thinks that he's some kind of god and wants to rule the world. Don't they always? It needs to be dissolved as quickly as possible."

"Which is why Cheney wants the Tip, and he's doing it on the quiet because his superiors wouldn't accept his plan, yes you told me. What this has to do with what else you've told me and why he wants me, I don't follow."

"I'm getting to that," Kurtis snapped irritably. "Don't interrupt. Anyway, you're wrong, we lied."

"Oh well, there's a surprise," Lara grouched, rolling her eyes.

"We told you that Cheney wanted the Tip for its symbolism, rather than its true power. That's not true. Originally The Company were just going to shoot him, imprison the authority figures and then kill anybody in the cult that didn't back down, that's their usual way of handling these things. It didn't work."

"How so?" Lara was interested now, leaning forward and openly hanging on his every word.

"The guy's not actually that crazy. Bullets can't kill him."

"The Company shot the cult leader and he didn't die?"

"Survived eighteen bullets," Kurtis confirmed, nodding. "So the final Periapt Shard, the Tip, becomes the only solution. They did their research, tracked it down, retrieved it, and then kidnapped me so that I could help them find you. They couldn't get you themselves because the operation would have shown up on their computers, and Cheney didn't want the oversight board finding out that he'd failed to kill the cult leader in the first place. Cheney's powerful, but he's not untouchable. He fails on an important thing like that and he'll be made to disappear the same way countless numbers of terrorists, informants and criminals have disappeared on his orders."

"And what's my role in this now that we know that I'm not here to get them the Tip?"

"You won't like it," Kurtis said, looking worried.

"Kurtis," said Lara warningly, waggling her gun.

"The Tip needs a user who's strong and pure. That's why your first impression on Cheney mattered so much, why you had to show you could get through the Periapt Complex, and why they had you in mind in the first place. It's pretty clear from your past adventures, Croft, that you're one of the few people in this world that's worthy of the Tip."

"Then why the lies? Why not tell me this from the beginning?"

Kurtis's eyes slid shut and he sighed heavily, clearly reluctant to answer. "The Tip gets its power from the soul of the one wielding it. To do its job, it drains their life force, and they die. You don't get power like that without giving something in return." He gazed at Lara, sitting in numb shock with the gun still limply held in her hand and her eyes staring into nothingness. "I'm sorry, Lara." His voice was sincere, meaningful.

"I can't believe you would do that to me." Lara looked up at him then, her eyes disbelieving and betrayed.

"Do what? Lara, I told you, we're going to steal the Tip off him first," but she wasn't listening and his sentence ended to a silent room as she got up and jogged into the kitchen, needing space to think.

"Lara!" Kurtis shouted, but she didn't answer. It wasn't the reason he'd freed his hands earlier, but he quickly tore the ties off his ankles anyway and ran after her, coming up behind her where she was facing the wall and leaning heavily on the worktop, still shocked, and touched her arms lightly. "Lara."

She didn't even seem surprised at his sudden escape – maybe she had been expecting it all along. Still turned away, she said quietly, "How many times have you betrayed me, Kurtis? And why do I keep on forgiving you?"

"I couldn't risk telling you the truth! I needed you to help me steal the Tip, and since we were going to do that before Cheney got a chance to trick you into using it, I figured it didn't really matter! Lara, I wasn't going to let them – "

Lara spun round, suddenly energised with anger and advanced on him, forcing him to retreat across the kitchen as she spoke, spitting her words with a venom he'd forgotten she possessed. "The same way it didn't matter about telling me the truth before walking out on my hospitality because either way, I didn't die? The same way it didn't matter that Bryce went through hell torturing himself over the accident because the truth was it wasn't his fault?" She shoved him, sending him stumbling back against the other work surface, just catching the edges to prevent himself from falling. "Bryce found out what you did, Kurtis! Days and days without sleep, going through every line of code in those computers, trying to assure himself that the 'virus' was really gone, that I wouldn't get trapped in there again – Bryce went to hell and back over that, and then he found out what you'd done." He was backed up against the cooker now, with nowhere to go as Lara pinned him there, her eyes boring into his with accusatory fire and her fingers digging painfully into his already sore wrists as she blocked his escape. "In some twisted, drunken hacking session, _you nearly got me killed!_" Her voice rose in volume with that final damnation, forcing Kurtis to lean even further back in fear even as he felt his anger surging forward into an equally intense retaliation.

"It was an accident!" he found himself screaming back, his face thrusting forward towards hers from where she had beaten it back in a forced retreat. She took a step back, surprised at the outburst when only a moment ago he had seemed so cowed. "A horrible, unforgivable accident! I had no idea what I'd done until it was too late! I didn't even remember until you were already trapped! Don't you think I regretted it? Don't you think that from that one, stomach wrenching moment when I realised what was going on, until way, way too long after, that I could barely live with myself?"

She hadn't thought that at all. From the moment Bryce had told her what he'd found out, relieved that he wasn't responsible but also seething that Kurtis could have done that to her, Lara had had own her battle. One that she had been fighting within herself in an effort to reconcile everything that she thought had happened between them with everything that she now imagined had happened between them. In her own sleepless nights wondering just what, if anything, she had done to make him want to kill her and to force him to try and realise it under a drunken lack of judgement, it had never even occurred to her that he might have been fighting his own battle of conscience with regards to his actions. Standing in the middle of the kitchen, she only blinked away tears that weren't there and stood, accepting his argument, suddenly vulnerable in his heartfelt tirade.

"All my life I grew up with the tough approach. My dad put me through hell in my training. I guess I never really escaped it, because what I did, I did in some twisted act of love. I know it's crazy, but I was trying to help you. I wanted you to believe in yourself again." His eyes searched hers, seeking understanding, begging forgiveness. "I went up to my room and I nearly slit my wrists. I don't know why I didn't. Cowardice, I guess. I couldn't face you. I couldn't tell you the truth and I couldn't lie to you, so I left." Kurtis sagged, his eyes dropping to the floor, before his whole body gave way, weary from the physical and emotional trauma of the day. Flopping to the floor, he tiredly sat back against the kitchen cupboards and rubbed his forehead. Several minutes passed, the room silent. The shadows gradually lightened as the rising sun poked through the curtains, illuminating the flat in a cheerful, warm, late summer's glow from the early morning cold white dawn.

"You should have told me." Lara's words were softly spoken, but they still boomed through the quiet, attracting all attention.

"I know."

Lara dropped to her knees and crawled the short distance to Kurtis' side, leaning against the cupboards herself and putting one hand gently on his bent elbow where he was still rubbing his forehead, in turmoil. "We're both pretty screwed up, aren't we?"

At her unusual words, Kurtis looked up, only to find her staring back at him with a smile playing around her lips, her eyes forgiving. He laughed. "Yeah, I guess we are." One arm lifted up and curled around Lara's shoulders, pulling her close in a friendly hug. She returned it, squeezing, and he rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes contentedly. "When am I ever gonna learn?"

Lara only smiled in return, distracted by the thoughts behind her suddenly hard eyes.

* * *

"I'm worried. This sudden freedom away from Lara looking over my shoulder like a hawk is great, and all, but I'm really, really worried that we're not going to get this dagger back in time." Bryce looked to Hillary, driving them on their way down to Newcastle on the trail of the Dagger of Xian, who spared him an understanding glance back.

"I know what you mean. But come on, Lara isn't that bad. She's not watching our every move and sending warning glances our way every time we breathe."

"Are you kidding?! She doesn't even trust me to book flights without her demanding a word for word rendition of the conversation I had with the woman at the airport!"

"Come now." Hillary tutted disapprovingly.

"I'm serious!" Bryce turned in his seat to face Hillary more squarely as he offered his evidence. "She bosses me around, she insults me, she regularly inflicts far more damage on SIMON than necessary, she has no sense of humour for my jokes, and no appreciation for the art of technology."

Hillary sent a sideways glance to Bryce with a knowing smile. "And you wouldn't have it any other way."

Bryce managed to feign injury for all of two seconds before breaking into a grin and settling further down into the passenger seat. "'Course not."


	13. In Too Deep

**Hey, Lady Lara Croft, great to have you back! Here, have a marshmallow. ;-) Thankyou for your lovely review!**

**Linzi, thankyou sooooo much! Today we have, in my opinion, the funniest part of the Bryce and Hillary storyline yet. I just hope it works as well for the reader as it does in my head. Hee Hee.**

**I know that specifying songs heard by characters in fanfic doesn't usually work, but I've done it in this chapter just because, if this were a film, _that_ would be the song I'd insist on using to finish that scene off. It's perfect. Give it a listen whilst reading, if you can. **

_In Too Deep_

Still sitting with Lara in his arms on the kitchen floor, Kurtis stared thoughtlessly around the kitchen, just enjoying the moment. At last he blinked, pulling himself back to order, and said, as he pushed Lara gently away, "We should get moving."

"Yes, of course." Lara brushed herself off as she stood, returning to her professional demeanour of before and glancing around for the clock. "How long have you been gone?"

"I left The Company about two thirty."

"Well, it's seven now. Maybe you should check in with them or something."

"Yeah, yeah." Kurtis sighed as he spoke, giving the impression that he was still trying to wake himself up. Obviously, he wasn't thinking too clearly. Lara could hardly blame him, he'd had an exhausting time and hadn't slept. She'd only managed a couple of hours, but at least it was something.

Taking charge, she marched into the living room and began gathering items together – the drinks, food, clothes and other bits and pieces she'd left lying around. Making a start in tidying up, she called back to the kitchen, "We need a new plan to stop Cheney and get the Tip. Tell The Company that you've found me and will be bringing me in, in a few hours. We'll go back to the manor, sort out the details on the way, get a few things, and then head back to The Company with me as your prisoner."

Coming back into the kitchen to rinse out the cups, she asked, "Ok?"

Kurtis, still bleary eyed with his exhaustion intensified by his short rest on the floor, blinked as he tried to remember what she'd just said. "Yeah. Sure." He scrubbed a hand through his hair and yawned as he took out his cell phone and dialled, pacing back and forth a few steps as it rang.

"I have sight on the merchandise."

Lara stopped and watched him as he spoke into the phone.

"An apartment...she left it about ten minutes ago but I'm in and from the looks of things she plans on coming back ...I don't anticipate any problems...once I get her it'll be a two hour trip back to base...I couldn't really say when we'll be back exactly, depends on when she returns...yes, sir..."

He hung up and turned back to her. "Look, I really need to get some sleep, I can't think straight. Is that ok?"

"No, that's fine. I'm not sure it's safe for us to rest here, though. If you found me then so can they, and I don't trust them to trust you. We'd best tidy up here and then sleep in your car, somewhere crowded. I'm assuming you came in a car?" Lara turned back to the washing up as Kurtis nodded and then hurried into the living room to help with the clear up. "You sounded very professional," she shouted over her shoulder, conversationally.

"Oh y'know," he called back, "image is everything in the job market these days."

She laughed to herself at that, thinking with no small amount of irony that it had taken a twisted plot to just to get them to indulge in small talk between rooms.

Working quickly and efficiently, they cleared all trace of their presence in the flat, gathered together some food and drink, which Lara stowed in the Jeep whilst Kurtis haphazardly fixed the door to the flat so that it least looked like it shut properly, and then drove off towards the high street.

"We'll stop here," said Lara, turning into a car park surrounded by shops. She manoeuvred the car into a spot, and Kurtis started fiddling with the heating controls to create a comfortable sleeping environment as Lara jumped out and headed for the ticket machine. Returning a couple of minutes later, she slammed her door and pasted the ticket onto the windshield. "I've paid for three hours. We can sleep 'til then. I'll set the alarm on my watch to wake us."

"Ok." Kurtis finished adjusting the controls and reclined his seat as far as it would go. Shifting around, trying to get comfortable, his gaze fell on Lara and he realised that she was already fast asleep. Suddenly aware of the rustling of his clothes as he moved around, he carefully removed his leather jacket and gently laid it over her as a blanket before laying down himself and watching her as she slept soundly.

"I'm sorry, Lara." He reached out and moved a strand of hair that had fallen over her eyes. "I am so, so sorry."

* * *

Having continually glanced at the dash clock of Bryce's StreetKa all the way down from Liverpool, Bryce and Hillary had managed to work themselves into quite a fuss by the time they'd reached the Newcastle under Lyme branch of Brownsword's Antiques. Yanking the wheel left and pulling an almost emergency-stop manoeuvre, Hillary screeched the car to a halt in a spectacular show of precision parking as Bryce flung open his door, dodged an innocent bystander and threw himself through the door of the dealer's.

"I hear you have the Dagger of Xian," he panted, bracing his arms against the counter as he almost ran straight into it.

"Erm..." said the dealer, looking taken aback, "Not in so many words, no."

"Not in so many words?" Bryce repeated the words slowly as if they hadn't sunk in. They hadn't, actually.

"It's in the back – "

"Great! Sold. How much?" Bryce slapped Lara's expense account credit card down on the counter.

"Actually, it's already sold."

"Come again?"

"To an online buyer, about ten minutes ago."

Bryce blinked.

"It's being delivered this afternoon."

Bryce swallowed. "Oh dear god."

* * *

Hillary, waiting in the car outside, readied the vehicle for immediate start as he saw the door to the antiques store open and Bryce come flying out, throwing himself back into the passenger seat with a box in his arms.

"Step on it!" he shouted, too caught up in their lack of time to enjoy the full benefit of finally having an excuse to holler the coveted cliché.

"Got it?" Hillary cried excitedly over the revving of the engine and the ambient city noise, swarming around the open topped car.

"No!" Bryce was frustrated and clearly very worried. Hillary shot him a couple of quick glances from the road, his features drawn in equal worry.

"It was sold," explained Bryce. "An online buyer. I can probably hack into the records from home and find their address, then we can go and beg them to sell it to us, but for now I bought a replica. We'll just have to put it in the treasure room, hope Lara doesn't notice and switch it for the real one when we manage to get it back."

"Don't forget you've got to change the financial records so she doesn't find out about any of this."

"Yeah." Bryce chewed on his finger, regarding the road ahead with a calculating stare. "I think we might just pull it off. If we're really, really careful."

"We'll be alright. We'll get it back without Lara even noticing. And if she does, she'll probably understand."

"Yeah, but I still don't want her to find out. I feel really guilty about this."

"It'll be ok." Hillary was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Bryce.

"Yeah, yeah it will." Bryce – likewise.

* * *

Kurtis opened his eyes, waking comfortably to a lovely warm Jeep, jostling him gently back to the living as it sped along the motorway. Sighing lightly and rubbing his eyes, he sat up straighter and stretched.

"Good morning," Lara said warmly, smiling with an equal amiability.

"Umph..." was all that was replied as he flexed his shoulders and arched his back. "Was I sleeping long?"

"About four hours or so. You needed it."

"Sorry." Kurtis turned and looked out the window at the rapidly passing scenery, green and wild banks with calm, still trees and bushes that sat in lonely, windswept forms watching the humans of the world rush by in their cars, always in a hurry but rarely glad to get to their destination. They beckoned him, almost. A dark, quiet man like Kurtis thrived on wandering through the peace and loneliness of large expanses of uncharted, unconquered wilderness, be it the empty back alleys of a city or the sprawling animal-ruled countryside between the settlements. Ever since he was young he had wanted to explore what was over those banks that fenced in the highways, unreachable and out of sight. It was so rare to find freedom these days, but there was no-one to watch you when you were out walking where others daren't or didn't care to; no-one but the stray dogs and the rabbits, and they didn't judge you. "Where are we?"

"The middle of nowhere. We'll get to the manor soon enough."

"Ok." Kurtis went back to staring out the window, turning away from Lara slightly and folding his arms across his chest.

"If you're still planning on stealing the Tip, we need a new plan."

"What? Oh, yeah." Kurtis broke himself out of his reverie to turn back to Lara and look to her as she stared out down the road, driving the crowded motorway easily and calmly. "I, er, I'm sorry about selling you out in the Complex."

"It's ok." Her tranquillity worried him. Surely she hadn't totally forgiven him already? And why hadn't she asked about – never mind. Things were complicated enough as it was, he should be just be grateful that she was making things easier.

"Do you have any idea how to go about stealing the Shard from inside The Company?" Lara asked, her eyes still on the road.

"No. Not really. I don't know where it is, how it's guarded, anything. I think we need to get in there, do some recon, and then sort out the details."

Lara was silent for a moment then. It scared him. Holding his breath and staring at her with a look akin to fear, he was worried that she was about to point out the unavoidable hole in his story, but when she opened her mouth it was only to say, "Alright. We'll go back to the manor, pick up some supplies and weapons, return to The Company with me as your prisoner, and take things from there."

"Yeah." Kurtis nodded, inwardly sighing in relief. "Ok."

Desperate to quell the possibility of any more dangerous conversation, Kurtis leant back in his seat, flicked on the radio and braced his feet against the dashboard, settling back and returning to staring out the window at the quiet, uncomplicated, unreachable freedom of the grassy slopes at the side of the motorway.

"I like this song," said Lara, her voice floating over his shoulder, and he closed his eyes and let his head drop back as she turned up the radio, Duran Duran's 'Ordinary World' surrounding him with its appropriate emotional soundtrack.

* * *

"Right, come on!" Bryce leapt out of the car as Hillary slammed on the brakes, bringing it to a jerking halt outside the front doors of Croft Manor. He fumbled with his keys at the front door until Hillary appeared beside him, keys at the ready, and opened the way for him.

Suddenly quiet and cautious, they crept slowly into the entrance hall.

"Lara?" Hillary called, and they stopped and listened for any noise that might come in reply. None did.

"Thank god, she's not back early, come on." Hillary spun Bryce round, directing him towards the treasure room and giving him a shove, but they both stopped dead when the familiar sound of an engine approached up the driveway.

* * *

"Stay here," Lara instructed Kurtis as she turned off the engine and opened her door. "Bryce is obviously here, that's his car. Believe me, after the hacking incident, you _do not_ want him to know that you're here. I'll make sure the coast is clear and distract him if necessary, you make for my bedroom."

"Right." Kurtis nodded, quietly exiting the vehicle and tiptoeing behind Lara at a good distance.

* * *

"Oh My God!!!" A short scene of melee followed as Bryce tried to push the boxed dagger into Hillary's hands as Hillary tried to push Bryce towards the display cases. "Go, go, go!" Hillary whispered fiercely, but Bryce succeeded in palming the box off on him and the next thing he knew, _he_ was being pushed away.

Making it half way across the hall, he stopped and spun towards the doors as they opened, hiding the box behind his back.

"Lara!" yelled Bryce, in what he hoped she perceived to be a joyful tone of voice but was actually quite panicked. "Good to see you!" He engulfed her in a hug, skilfully spinning her around at the same time so that she faced away from Hillary, who stealthily began to make for the treasure room.

"Bryce!" returned Lara in an equally panicked tone, hugging him back tightly whilst desperately gesturing to Kurtis with her eyes to _go, go, go!_ Trent, peeking round the doorway behind Bryce, looked vaguely alarmed but then began creeping towards the stairs.

Breaking apart but keeping their hands firmly planted on each other's shoulders in a bid to stop them from turning and seeing something they really didn't need to, the two fixed each other's gazes with equally intense, falsely happy stares.

"Come and see my new computer!" said Bryce, pushing Lara towards the stairs. Kurtis' eyes widened in fear and he ducked behind the balustrade.

"NO! I, I mean, let's go and see that wonderful new treasure room security system!" Lara shouted, pushing Bryce towards the display room. Hillary gasped in terror and stood back to attention, shoving the box behind him again.

"I know!" said Bryce, "You must be hungry, why don't we go and get you a sandwich first, eh?"

"Yes!" Lara cried, a little too enthusiastically, "Great idea!"

Kurtis let out a sigh of relief and crawled off towards Lara's bedroom. Hillary relaxed visibly and looked thankfully towards heaven, walking as fast as he could back towards the treasure room.

**Hmmmmm, what's going on with Kurtis, then? Well, actually, I already know because I'm the author, but unless you're extremely cunning and have been committing every word of this story to memory, you won't. Don't worry, you're not supposed to know yet. **


	14. Retreat, Regroup

**Ooooh five new reviews since my last update. Thankyou kindly, everyone! I'm thrilled you're all liking the story. :-)**

_Retreat, Regroup_

"Good weekend?"

"Yes, thanks. You?"

"Yeah, great."

Bryce and Lara sat opposite each other at the kitchen table, slouched in their seats, legs outstretched with their feet nearly touching, coffee and sandwiches half consumed in front of them.

"'Drive up to Manchester ok?"

"Yes. Traffic not too bad, really. Where have you been today? Noticed your car is outside."

"Oh, just into town."

"Right."

The conversation trailed off again as Lara wondered if Kurtis had made it up to her room ok and Bryce prayed that Hillary had managed to plant the false dagger. Bryce decided to have another stab at communication.

"So – what was all that about a fourth Periapt Shard?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You phoned up last night and said something about another Shard."

"Oh. Yes. So I did." Lara showed no signs of elaborating further.

"So..."

"Oh. Yes. I found a fourth Shard mentioned when I was doing my research in Manchester. I've identified some more sources I need to check, in the University College Library, so I'll be going into London later on. Probably for a few days. It's nothing, really. You might as well take the time off or do whatever it is you want to do, there'll be no adventuring just yet."

"Right." Bryce nodded. "Ok." He took a bite of his sandwich.

Hillary flounced in then, looking happy and not at all like he was trying to avoid Lara.

"Lara! Welcome home! Good weekend? I was just cleaning up the treasure room ready for you to see the new security system. It's all ready." With those last three words he darted a quick glance at Bryce, who understood the double entendre perfectly and let out a surreptitious breath in relief.

"Oh, well, actually, I'm rather tired. It was a long drive. I think I'll just go upstairs and take a nap, if that's ok." Lara smiled tiredly and rubbed an eye for effect.

"Alright," Hillary smiled, and Lara, thankful for her escape, grabbed her plate of sandwiches and hurried off upstairs.

"Thank god." Hillary flopped into Lara's abandoned chair and rubbed his hand over his face.

"I've got good news – she's going into London later and staying for a few days."

At that Hillary looked up, the look on his face one of joyful disbelief. "Really? It's going to be that easy?"

"Hey – finding the bloke who's bought the dagger'll be easy, convincing him to sell it to us probably won't be."

"Well, at least with Lara gone again we have one less thing to worry about. Now all we have to do is worry about everything else."

Bryce stared at Hillary, comprehending the full extent of 'everything else'. "I'll go and get started on finding out his address, shall I?"

* * *

Lara took a glance over her shoulder to check the coast was clear and then opened her bedroom door. "Kurtis!" she hissed into the silence, looking around for him. He didn't appear, so she stepped into the room, closed the door, and immediately caught sight of him hiding behind it, a heavy Peruvian vase raised above his head ready for attack.

"Thank god it's you," he sighed, putting the vase back down. Lara only blinked at his extreme tactics.

"I do hope you weren't planning on hitting anyone with that vase. It's one of a kind, y'know."

"Did you get 'em off my trail or what?"

"They were never on your trail, Kurtis. You're safe, don't worry. If anybody comes, just hide in the bathroom."

Kurtis only humphed in reply, casually untrusting. Jumping onto the bed, he took the sandwich Lara offered him and lay down, propping his head in one hand and chewing thoughtfully. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"Well, _I'll_ get us kitted out and then we'll leave again, go back to The Company."

"Yeah, well, we'll need everything. And I mean 'everything'. I have no idea how we're going to steal the Tip so we can't rule anything out."

"Alright, it's no problem, don't panic. I've told Hillary and Bryce I'm going to London for a few days, I'll just load up the Jeep and then you can sneak out the way you came in."

A look of horror crossed Kurtis' face and he stopped chewing and sat up.

"What?"

"Won't they wonder where the Jeep came from?"

Lara's eyes flared in the same horror as she realised Kurtis was right, and then they both bolted for the door.

* * *

"Hillary?"

Upon hearing his name being called, Hillary left his preparation of dinner and hurried into the control room where Bryce was busy hacking, wiping his hands clean on a towel as he went.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember the address of the antiques shop?"

"No. Sorry."

Bryce sighed. "I can't hack into their sales records if I don't know who they are. I probably left the receipt for the fake dagger in the car though. Can you get it? I'll stay here and make sure Lara doesn't see any monitors she isn't supposed to."

Hillary nodded and made for the front doors. Opening them, he just missed The Company's Jeep being driven by Kurtis out of its parking spot towards the side of the house and Lara's Bentley, retrieved from the garage, following it close behind, seamlessly taking the space. Lara stepped out of the car and, seeing Hillary frowning at it slightly, said in a slightly panicked tone of voice, "What is it?"

"Didn't you go to Manchester in the Rover?" Hillary regarded the car with a puzzled look.

"No. I was just getting my sunglasses out of the glove box, that's all." Lara planted her feet slightly apart in front of the Bentley and spread her arms out along its body almost as if she were trying to hide it.

"But didn't you say that taking the Bentley to the Manchester student quarter would be suicide?"

"No, no, I said that it would be a _crime_ _not to_. I like to inspire youth. Show them what they can get if they work hard. Encourage them to study."

Hillary opened his mouth as if to protest, but thought better of it and instead leant over into the open topped StreetKa and began rummaging around for the receipt, leaving Lara to sigh in relief and give Kurtis a thankful look as he crept back around from the side of the house and darted back into the house and up the stairs, Lara close behind. "The parking fine on the Rover will be through the roof by the time I get back to Manchester for it," she muttered angrily.

* * *

"Digital watch?"

"Check."

"Weapons?"

"Full portable armoury."

"Infra red goggles?"

"Check."

"Electronic lockpick?"

"Check. Not road-tested though, it's one of Bryce's newer toys."

"Smoke canisters?"

Lara shot Kurtis a look that clearly said, "Why would I have any of those?"

"PDA?"

"What on earth for?"

"C4 explosive?"

Lara folded her arms, offset her weight to one leg and gave Kurtis a withering stare. "Now you're just being unrealistic."

"Fine, fine!" Kurtis pushed himself off her bed from where he'd been reviewing the equipment she'd packed and moved to the dresser where his cell phone sat. "We'll just have to get some of my own stuff from my quarters back at The Company." He dialled a number and waited as it rang.

"You carry around smoke canisters and C4 with you?"

"Doesn't everybody?" and then, "Target acquired. En route. There was a chase so I'm off previous position, ETA now four hours." Flipping the phone shut he looked to Lara to check that she was ready. "Time to go?"

Lara nodded her assent and opened her bedroom door, peeking out to check the coast was clear. "Ok," she whispered, "come on. I cannot believe I'm sneaking out of my own mansion, this is ridiculous."

* * *

At the same time as Lara and Kurtis were creeping along the upper landing, Bryce was creeping along the hallway underneath in the opposite direction with a print out in his hand, heading towards Hillary who was in the kitchen packing food for their trip.

"Ok, come on. You can leave that, we'll eat on the plane. I take it you didn't take our travel bags out of the car yet? We're going to need them."

"Why, where are we going?" Hillary turned, his voice and face equally puzzled.

"The buyer of the dagger bought it over the internet because they couldn't go in person. They live in Tokyo."

"Oh dear." Hillary took the foil wrapped sandwiches and slammed them in the refrigerator.

"Flight's already booked, I got us a last minute deal leaving in five hours. Check in's in two, so we'd better get a move on."

* * *

"Lara!" At the sound, instinctively, Kurtis threw himself behind a bush. Lara, following him towards the side of the house to the hidden Jeep, turned and smiled dazzingly at Bryce who was running over the grass towards her, apparently oblivious to her partner who was by now near hyperventilation only two feet away behind a terrifyingly well pruned back rododendron.

"Bryce! What is it? I'm rather in a hurry. To...er...check the wood rot on the obstacle course."

Bryce, too busy thinking up his own excuse, didn't even blink at Lara's horrendous attempt at deception. "Hillary and me are going to the cinema."

"Alright." Lara nodded as if she didn't know why Bryce had just bothered to tell her that. "Well, I'm going to London soon so remember your key."

"Sure." Bryce turned and jogged back to his StreetKa, parked a few hundred yards away with Hillary checking everything they needed was packed.

Once he was out of earshot, Kurtis let out a long breath he'd been holding and looked up at Lara. "Can we please get out of here? Before I get caught or have a coronary?"

Lara smiled, amused, and continued round to the side of the house to back up her ridiculous lie that she couldn't believe Bryce had bought. For a moment she wondered just _why_ he hadn't bought it, but quickly decided she couldn't be bothered with paranoia at that particular moment and instead hid around the corner, peeking out to wait for Bryce and Hillary to drive off.

They jumped into the car, Bryce at the wheel, and sped off at a rate of knots, tyres squealing. 'Must be late for the screening', Lara thought to herself. "Ok," she said to Kurtis, stepping into view, "you can come out now, they're gone."

He got slowly to his feet and double checked the driveway then, when he was satisfied she wasn't lying in a sadistic ploy to get him into the clutches of Bryce, trotted off to the Jeep. "Sometimes, I wonder why I do this job."


	15. Admissions

**Thanks for the reviews again, guys! :-) Each one is met with a 'yay' and a happy clap when I find it in my inbox. Glad you got your internet back, Godavari - I'd die if mine went away!**

_Admissions_

The airport terminal was warm, comfortable and calm, as terminals often are. People whiled away their infuriatingly long waiting times by chatting quietly, wondering up and down browsing through the shops, and sleeping, their heads propped on bags or shoulders. Hillary stared out of the windows at the planes below, loading, fuelling, taxiing. Workers scurried about, only really visible due to their fluorescent jackets shining out against the gathering dusk. Beside him, Bryce gasped and jumped.

Hillary shot him a narrowed eyed look, taking in the laptop and headphones about Bryce's person, eyes fixed on the monitor. "What are you doing?" Hillary asked suspiciously.

"Playing Silent Hill 2. Very scary."

"You jumped," Hillary stated.

"Monster," Bryce said shortly by way of explanation.

Hillary, tiring of watching the aircraft, settled himself to see Bryce's laptop. "What do you have to do?"

"Kill the monsters, find your dead wife, and figure out what the hell's going on."

"Who's that?" Hillary pointed to a second figure standing next to the one Bryce appeared to be controlling.

"Maria. Not sure who she is, but she looks and sounds exactly like the dead wife. Bit suspicious."

"Hmmm." Hillary sat back to watch the proceedings, ready to while away the time to boarding by any means necessary.

* * *

The Jeep drew up outside The Company's headquarters, Lara staring out of the passenger window long ago lost with regards to their route. They were south of London, but that was all she knew. They had taken so many small roads, twisting, turning and dodging the main routes that she was almost dizzy from the journey. Either Kurtis didn't want her to learn the route, or this was the way The Company had shown him and he knew no other. She didn't bother asking, it wouldn't do to show suspicion yet. 

"Now, before we go in there, you have to remember one thing: you're my prisoner."

"Yes, I know." Lara nodded.

"So no retribution for me treating you appropriately, ok?"

Lara only stared back, slightly incredulous as to what he was implying was 'appropriate'. He didn't see her look, however, having turned back to the road in order to start the Jeep moving again, drawing it around the back of the building and down the 'In' ramp towards the underground carpark surrounded by doorways that they had left last night in the van. At the bottom was a barrier. Stopping at it, Kurtis leaned out and pressed a button on a post-mounted intercom. "Trent and Croft, Mission 2205PT."

"Bay zero one niner," came the tinny reply, and the barrier lifted. Kurtis eased the car forwards again out into the open space and sped it across the car park, pulling the car roughly up against the appropriate doorway. Lara stepped out, her footsteps echoing loudly throughout the enclosed concrete area, dimly lit and chilly without the benefit of the earlier day's sun. A red glow above the door attracted her attention and she looked up to an electronic display showing, '#2205PT Incoming – Prisoner Detail. Medical not required," scrolling across in LED formed lettering.

"Prisoner Detail?" Lara said to Kurtis.

"Just precautions – you're a dangerous woman, Croft." Smiling amiably, he put one arm around her neck and produced a gun at her head, a far less dangerous reprise of his treatment of her in the alley in Manchester. "Here we go," he whispered into her ear, voice low and rumbling. His proximity was enjoyable but not distracting. Lara was more than capable of retaining full control of herself, and especially so now that she knew Kurtis better - his dark side, cold, hard and all too frequent was more than sobering once you fully comprehended it.

They moved to the door and Kurtis abandoned his grip on her to reach into his pocket, retrieving an unmarked keycard and waving it in Lara's face. "If you'd be so kind," he said, flicking the card with a finger. Lara reached up and took it, sliding it through the key slot on the wall and replacing it between his fingers where his arm was once more wrapped securely around her shoulders. The doors swished open a short moment later and they stepped inside to meet Cheney and five armed guards, waiting patiently for them.

Cheney was smiling again, that sincere smile that was so dangerous in its deception. The guards, however, were expressionless, staring straight ahead like statues awaiting their orders.

"Mr Trent, so good to have you back. And you, Lady Croft, I'm so glad that you decided to return."

"You're despicable," Lara spat back.

"Really? And what makes you say that? I am, after all, just assuring that you follow through on our little deal."

Bugger. They'd been so blasé about how they'd go about stealing the Tip from inside The Company that they had totally forgotten to sort out just how much they wanted to reveal to Cheney about Lara's new-found knowledge of his real intentions. Well, if they wanted anything even remotely resembling an advantage, then they needed to make sure that Cheney knew nothing. Before the possibility that Kurtis might say something could be realised, Lara leapt back in with a retort, leading the conversation and hoping that Kurtis could follow.

"You kidnapped me, tricked me, put me in a situation where I could easily have died for no real reason, shot at me and then had me kidnapped again. In my book, that's not fair play."

"Shut up, sweetheart." Kurtis' loud drawl intervened before Cheney and Lara could talk any more, a dangerous prospect. "Take her away." He shoved her forcefully forward into the waiting grip of the guards, suddenly attentive at his words. She stumbled as they caught her, gripping her arms painfully and roughly turning her around to face the same way as they did in readiness to lead her away, but they waited for Cheney's confirmation of the orders.

Cheney only smiled, laughing to himself at her predicament. "Send for Reynard when she's settled. There's no telling what she might have got up to whilst she was out."

"Reynard?" Kurtis enquired casually.

"Chief interrogator." Mr Cheney smiled almost gleefully before turning and setting off down the corridor in the other direction.

Lara, eyes suddenly filled with fear, could only too easily guess what that particular euphemism meant. The Company had already proved itself to be a master in misleading terminology. She looked pleadingly to Kurtis but he only stood by impassively staring after his boss.

"Fuck you!" Lara screamed at him, terrified and amazed that this was what he could include under the widespread heading, 'Appropriate'. He reacted, turning to her.

Walking towards her, stopping the guards from leading her away just yet, Kurtis took Lara's chin roughly in his hand, squeezing hard to prevent her from pulling away. "That's no language for a woman of your stature," he said, and kissed her, hard and possessively, not a hint of 'trust me' or 'I'm on your side' to be found even though Lara looked hard enough for it. "Have fun, babes." He smiled that confounded grin and waved mockingly, watching Lara as she was dragged down the corridor kicking and squirming and screaming abuse over her shoulder, now more angry at his latest, and most violent, betrayal then scared at what was about to happen.

Kurtis laughed to himself as she rounded the corner, and then turned and set off at a dash in pursuit of Cheney, his face not so amused any more.

* * *

"Mr Cheney!" Kurtis panted, as he just managed to catch Cheney's office door as it was swinging shut, and darted inside after him. "Mr Cheney." 

"Yes, Mr Trent?" Cheney sounded mildly annoyed, glancing up irritably as he seated himself behind his desk.

"Call off Reynard. Please." Kurtis leant on the desk, breathless after the run and desperate to stop things before they started. He continued panting, trying to get both his panic and his breathing back under control.

"Any why should I do that?" Calm, detached, the Company head folded his hands on his desk and regarded his newest employee with a look akin to impatient indulgence.

"Please. I – I don't have a reason why you should. I can't tell you that she won't respond, I can't tell you that I have her trust and she'll tell me anything I ask, I just – please don't torture Lara. Please."

"She's a security risk, Trent. We need to find out if she did anything to compromise our control of this situation whilst she was on the run from us."

"And if she didn't? Are you just gonna torture her until she tells you she did something just to get you to stop? Come on, Cheney, please." Kurtis was pleading now, too scared to think of a proper argument.

"You're emotionally involved." Cheney was quietly accusing, as if he knew that this would happen all along, and was irritated rather than surprised.

"Yes! I am! Lara and me, we have history. Now I will let you get away with holding her prisoner, I will let you deceive and trick her, hell I'll enjoy every opportunity I can get to leer and flirt, and though I might not like it I accept that she's going to have to die for the greater good, but if you do this to her...if you hurt..." suddenly it came to him. He'd had insurance against Cheney all along, he'd just forgotten in the chaos. Once again in control, Kurtis straightened up and fixed his opponent with a threatening gaze before moving in for the kill.

"I know you have family. I know that they think you're dead. I know that Susan thinks she was widowed five years ago right before you got this position, I know that Mark has just got his first girlfriend and I know that you've never even met little Megan, who is still scared of the dark. You hurt Lara," and with those words Kurtis leant forward and moved his face close to Cheney's, eyes darting in barely concealed rage, "and I will find your family, and I will tell them the truth about you right before I put bullets – in – their – heads. Am I clear?"

Cheney, to his credit, met the gaze readily. "Crystal."

Kurtis nodded his head slightly and stood freely once again. There was silence and then Cheney pressed an intercom built into the desktop and said, "Cancel Reynard. Move Croft to quarters and post guard. Only myself and Trent to have access."

Breathing out heavily through his nose, Kurtis turned and made for the door, but Cheney stopped him with a word.

"Collateral. You _are_ collateral, Trent, as much as Lara. I may find your assistance in this matter helpful, but you are not immune. There will come a point where you will push too hard and I will push back. Try not to reach that point."

* * *

The door to Lara's quarters at The Company opened and Kurtis stepped in, shutting it quietly behind him and standing with his hands in his pockets, staring at the floor and then looking up to Lara, who had been reading on the bed and now stared at him, waiting for him to say something. 

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes." She snapped the book shut and pulled herself to a more sitting position.

"I'm sorry about before, I couldn't argue in front of the guards. Cheney would torture me too just for undermining his authority in front of people, and I have to keep what little hold I have on them."

"It seems you have quite a lot of hold."

"No. They do what I tell them because Cheney told them to. My position is a little more precarious than you might think."

"I take it I have you to thank for my narrow escape?"

Kurtis moved to the bed and lifted Lara's feet, sitting down in their place and letting them rest on his lap, staring down at his hands resting on her ankles. "I begged Cheney to leave you alone. I used my wild card and now we are both much worse off than we were before. I got no more tricks to pull on Cheney and I can't convince him that I'm just in this for the action and money any more. He knows that I care about what happens to you. That's not how it was in the beginning. I had control then."

"I'd noticed."

"Yeah, well I was possibly lying to Cheney _and_ myself then." Kurtis looked up and smiled weakly. "I should have known better than to get involved with you again."

Lara's own smile was awkward, a little forced, as she blinked rapidly and turned back to her book.


	16. Underhand Measures

**Wow! (grabs Lady Lara Croft and engulfs her in a huge hug) You perfect perfect reviewer, you! Thankyou!!! :-)**

_Underhand Measures_

"_This_ is the life." Bryce sighed and stretched, burying himself deeper into the armchair-like first class seat of the airplane to Japan. He and Hillary had just stowed their hand luggage and sat down, two of the first to board the plane, and they were now settling themselves as the other passengers filed down the aisles, mostly into economy class.

"I pity the poor bastards who have to take long flights in economy. Gets cramped," Hillary said, watching people go through into the rear cabin.

"Yep. We're lucky to be in Lara's employment, that's for sure."

Hillary reached up and started fiddling with the air conditioning controls and Bryce, for want of something to do whilst the plane readied for take off, started reading an article in the in-flight magazine about a day in the life of an Air France marketing manager.

* * *

Lara, meanwhile, was lying flat out on the bed in her quarters, staring up at the ceiling with Kurtis lying the opposite way next to her. They were also waiting until such time as they could do something more interesting, namely reconnaissance in the headquarters on the subject of the Periapt Tip. 

"...Am I young, rugged and handsome?" Kurtis asked, fingers interlocking and pillowing his head.

"Yes. Definitely," replied Lara, twirling a stray strand of hair around her fingers.

"Do I look good in combat gear brandishing a gun?"

"You look fantastic."

"Am I believable as a man of mystery, caught up in a web of intrigue?"

"Certainly."

"Colin Farrell, 'The Recruit'."

"Correct," Lara enthused.

Kurtis raised his head and looked at Lara, surprised. "You're a Colin Farrell fan? Really? Would'a thought you wouldn't be taken in by all that tough-guy stuff."

"My turn," said Lara, blatantly ignoring him and turning over on her side, cuddling her pillow to her head.

Kurtis let his head fall back, thought for a second and then said, "Ok, got one."

"Am I female?"

"Yes."

"Do I wear a nice dress and carry a gun?"

"Yeah," said Kurtis, drifting off into fantasy land quite happily.

"Milla Jovovich, 'Resident Evil'."

"No way?!" Kurtis came back to reality with a bump and sat up, awestruck. "How did you get that after two questions?"

"You're more like Bryce than you may realise," Lara replied with a grin.

* * *

Sounding simultaneously, a gasp and a drawn out squeak of terror attracted the air-hostess at the front of the first class cabin. 

"Sirs," she said, approaching the sources of the noise, "is everything ok?"

Hillary, fist shoved in his mouth, nodded, his eyes fixed on Bryce's laptop. Bryce, also staring at the monitor with eyes wide and breathing shallow, didn't answer. The air hostess crouched down to take a look and found a computer generated film of some kind of monster attacking another whilst interspersed shots pictured a young man in a green jacket desperately trying to open a door and escape the room. Then it cut to a less detailed picture, and suddenly Bryce's fingers started hitting frantically at the keyboard, making the young man draw a gun and start firing rapidly at an approaching monster. She opened her mouth to speak, but decided to leave the men to their computer game, keeping them awake long after all the other passengers had settled down to sleep. Judging from the scenery in the game, it was a good job they were wearing headphones to curb the noise, and, checking that their terrified whimpers weren't disturbing any nearby passengers, she walked back down the aisle, shaking her head in amusement.

* * *

"I can do a handstand and end it in the splits," Lara offered, sitting on the bed cross-legged. 

Kurtis, facing her and sitting similarly, nodded towards the floor and said, "Go on then."

Smiling proudly, Lara got off the bed, moved towards the wall to give herself plenty of room and then tipped easily forward into a handstand, holding it for a moment before continuing on, landing with one foot slightly in the front of the other, and then slid effortlessly down into a perfect split. Holding her arms aloft to showcase her talents, she said, "Ta da!". Kurtis clapped enthusiastically and then leapt off the bed and took Lara's hands, pulling her up until she was able to find her feet and stand of her own accord.

"Nice," he said, "but _I_ can do this. Look through the peephole." Lara, wondering what his talent was, did as she was told and peeked out into the corridor. Behind her, Kurtis took a breath and then put his farsee ability into play. His mind moved past Lara, through the door, and then hovered in the corridor, lying in wait for a Company agent on his way to the cafeteria. Just as the unfortunate worker reached the position of Kurtis' mind, an unknown force knocked his feet out from under him and he landed unceremoniously in a heap outside Lara's door, completely clueless as to what had just transpired.

Lara broke into giggles and turned around just as Kurtis came back to himself, staggering slightly but quickly recovering and breaking into a grin. "Did you do that?" Lara shrieked, impressed. Kurtis only laughed in return.

* * *

Bryce and Hillary didn't notice the other passengers waking up, nor had they noticed them go to sleep, engrossed as they were in the events of Bryce's copy of Silent Hill 2. 

"Left, left, left," Hillary hissed. "No, no, the other left!"

"I'm lost!" Bryce cried.

"Check the map!"

"Why? I know where we are, just not where we're going."

"Well I know where we're going just not where we are."

Bryce directed his character through a set of doors and the in-game radio started crackling static, signalling the proximity of a nasty, weapon wielding, no doubt frightening monster.

"Monster!" Hillary squeaked.

"Where?! I can't see anything!"

"Behind you!"

The air-hostess shook her head again as she passed on the way for the refreshments trolley.

* * *

Lara hefted a desk-tidy and then, from her position on their extremely small imaginary baseball playing field in her quarters, hurled it at Kurtis, who expertly knocked it flying with his telekinetic powers and then scrambled for the wall designated first base as Lara dived for the desk-tidy. Kurtis slammed into the wall and Lara almost simultaneously snatched up the makeshift ball from where it had clattered to the floor. 

The guards outside gave each other puzzled looks and then moved their ears to the door, trying to work out what the noise was about.

"I was in!" came a shout from inside the room.

"Rubbish! I got the desk-tidy before you'd even got past the desk!"

"No way! I was at first!"

"What the hell's going on?" one guard said to the other.

"Beats me," he replied, shrugging.

On the other side of the door Kurtis was about to call for an umpire's decision from the eight-ball on the bookcase when the alarm on his watch beeped. "Hey, it's time. The Company'll be switching onto night-staff any time now."

"And you're sure that the night shift is a skeleton crew?"

"When there aren't any missions pending, yeah, andthere'snothing on the schedule,so that's cool."

"Ok, then. Let's go." Lara tossed the desk-tidy to Kurtis, who dropped it back onto the desk, and they both made for the door.

* * *

"Run!" squeaked Hillary. 

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Bryce retorted.

"Excuse me," the man across the aisle said to the air hostess as she passed, "but what are they doing?"

"Playing a computer game. Would you like me to ask them to be quiet?"

"No, no, it's quite alright." The passenger gave the pair a curious look and then put on the entertainment system headphones and turned up the volume.

* * *

Lara and Kurtis stepped out of Lara's room. "We're going to the gym," Kurtis told the guards. "She's under my supervision. Keep the guard on the door, we'll be back later and I don't want to have to go searching for whoever's supposed to be on duty here, got it?" 

The guards nodded and the two adventurers set off down the corridor towards the gym.

"So," whispered Lara, "where to?"

"The main server. We can check the mission files from there without it showing up on the terminal access list."

"I thought that there weren't any files because The Company was doing this on the quiet?"

"There are files, they're just very hard to find. Yours truly, however, knows where to look." Kurtis smiled smugly and Lara laughed at him.

"Why do I get the feeling you know a lot more than you're supposed to?"

"Let's just say that when this whole Periapt thing started and I was brought in as consultant I didn't waste any time sitting in my room playing baseball with a desk-tidy."

"It was your idea," Lara retorted.

They took a long circuitous route through The Company that would confuse anybody catching them on the security cameras, eventually coming to a lift in the far reaches of the building. Kurtis slipped the electronic lock pick that Lara had packed from out of his pocket and hooked it up to the keypad barring access to the lift. He then handed it to Lara, who looked left and right to check the corridor was clear before tapping in the combination of buttons that Bryce had taught her that would set the gadget to work.

It took only a few seconds for the code to be broken, and with a beep on the keypad the lift doors slid open, inviting them in. They stepped inside wordlessly and Kurtis pressed the button for the top floor. Up they rode, the journey taking a full minute, neither of them speaking as if their voices would give them away even though there was no-one to hear.

At last the doors opened again, and they stepped out into a long corridor heading away from them with no turn offs. It was lined with servers, terminals and wires, the brains of The Company, all lit by a red tinged light that played up the silver components but played down the dark background, increasing the contrast of the entire area for anyone wishing to navigate their way through the labyrinth of electronics.

"You any good with computers?" Kurtis asked.

"Not too bad."

Kurtis moved to a terminal, its keyboard almost hidden amongst the other components of the computer, and tapped in a few directions to open a directory and then stepped away to leave the way clear for Lara. "Look in that directory. See what you can find on the Periapt Shard. I'll check on this one." He moved to another keyboard on the other side of the corridor and started tapping away at the keys, bringing up window after window of code and files at a speed far faster than anything that Bryce had built could run. Lara smiled wryly to herself at the thought that poor Bryce was missing all this as she started her own search into the files.

A few silent minutes passed and then she found it – the location of the Periapt Tip within The Company. "Kurtis," she hissed, "I've found it." He darted over to her and examined her screen, filtering the information for only the useful.

"Level thirteen, room nine, safe six. Perfect." He smiled triumphantly.

"I tried to bring up the security codes for the area but they're locked."

"It's ok, we'll break in. It's too risky to try and hack into those files. For now I suggest we shut down here, go and check the area out and then go back to the room and make a detailed plan that we can implement tomorrow night."

"What if they want us to go after the cult leader tomorrow?"

"Then we panic. Cheney's not told me any plans so I think we have time to wait, and I don't want to risk rushing this."

Lara raised an eyebrow and asked, "Would Cheney have told you any plans?"

At that, Kurtis looked worried for a second but then quashed it, returning to his earlier semi-confident state. "Yeah. 'Course he would." Lara wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, her or himself, but she stood by and let him close down the terminals and then followed him back to the lift all the same.

* * *

"Sir, are you – "An air-hostess, taking in Bryce and Hillary's dishevelled appearances with bags under their eyes and a wild look of skittishness about them, was about to enquire if the two men were ok when her colleague put a hand on her arm to stop her. 

"They're fine," she said. "Playing some kind of game."

"They're fine?" repeated the other hostess, incredulous as she eyed their paranoid behaviour.

"They haven't slept and they seem to be more involved in the game than is probably healthy, but, yeah, they're fine."

* * *

Kurtis peeked around the corner to check that the coast was clear and then darted around it, keeping close to the wall and moving as quietly as he could, Lara close behind. He stopped as a security camera began to swing towards them, expertly staying just outside of its view, and then, as it swung back the other way, hurried along behind it and ducked into another corridor. 

He stopped dead, holding one arm out to halt Lara who bumped into him but managed to keep her whole body behind him. "Don't move," he whispered. "If we stay right here we're in a blind spot but if we move either way we'll be on their cameras. Now, pretty much every set of cameras I've come across in this building hit a point every twelve arcs where the area between them is a blind spot for about ten seconds if you're in the centre or three if you're nearer the edge. Room nine is the door just in front of us to the right. Looks like we can safely stand at the door for about five seconds if we time it right, seven tops."

"How do we know when the blind spot is coming up?" Lara asked, eyeing the cameras.

"You keep an eye on that one and say every time it swings away so it can't see us. I'll do the same. Eventually we'll start synching up as the cameras reach their weak point, then when we both call it at the same time, that's when we're in the blind spot."

"Take a rehearsal now for tomorrow night?"

"Sure."

"Ok," said Lara, "mine's turning away now." They each reported the moment they thought their camera had turned away to a view not encompassing the door, gradually finding their voices getting closer and closer together in timing as the mismatched paths of the cameras phased themselves into the major security flaw Lara and Kurtis were depending on

"Ok," they found themselves saying in unison, and Kurtis took a step to the door and stood by it, counting the seconds in his head whilst he kept an eye on his camera, the first to come back around with its shorter arc. He counted to six before he stepped back to Lara, just dodging the camera's line of sight.

"Six seconds," he said. "That's long enough to use the lock pick, right?"

"Easily," said Lara. "So what are we going to do once we're in the room?"

"I'll try and find out what security's in there from the computer in my quarters. I'm pretty sure I can do it undetected. Then I'll come back to you and we can make a full plan."

"So now all we need to do is get back to my quarters without anyone knowing we were on the other side of the building to the gym."

"Right," said Kurtis, nodding and swallowing. "Easy."

"Easy," agreed Lara, equally apprehensive.

They dodged the camera behind them and started back the way they had come, stopping and starting as the cameras allowed until they eventually reached one of the main corridors, well travelled during normal working hours, but thankfully empty late at night. Or so they thought.

Staring up at the camera they were hiding from in the corner of the ceiling, Kurtis' attention was attracted by the sudden movement of red LED letters flashing up on one of the many electronic notice boards. He froze as he read the words, his breathing silenced in shock. '#2298RC Incoming. Prisoner Detail, Critical Wounded.'

"Oh my god." He grasped Lara's hand where she was standing behind him, glancing around to check that no-one was coming.

"What?" she asked, startled by his sudden movement.

"There's a mission coming in."

"Now? Here?!" Lara fell back against the wall, dread overtaking her as she followed Kurtis' gaze to read the mission status. "There'll be guards and medics everywhere!"

"And that's not all." Kurtis swallowed dryly, eyes still fixed on the flashing red letters. "Two two niner eight RC is the Rebirth Cult mission – they're bringing in the cult leader you're supposed to kill and that not only means that we have way too little time, it also means that Cheney'll be coming along this corridor to meet him any moment now."


	17. Already Divided, Soon To Be Conquered

**Lady Lara Croft, you fought to get a review through?! I'm impressed! Hee Hee, have some virtual chocolate cake. :-) Thankyou!**

**Ok, since things are hotting up now and I have this habit of referring back to details that I know you'll all have forgotten since they were mentioned a gazillions chapters ago, here's a quick recap of everything important that's gone on:  
Kurtis kidnapped Lara and 'sold her' to a top secret government organisation called The Company, who want to use Lara to kill a dangerous cult leader. She is to use a weapon called The Periapt Tip, originally part of a mystical spear head that could kill gods, but in doing so it will drain her life force and kill her. Kurtis and The Company, led by Cheney, lied to her about their true reasons for kidnapping her, but when she realised something was wrong and escaped, Kurtis went to recapture her and was forced to tell her the truth. She and Kurtis are now working together in order to stop Lara being killed and to steal the Tip so that Kurtis, as last of the Lux Veritatis and thus true heir to the role of protector of the Tip, can keep it safe from the corrupt Cheney and, he feels, go some way to redeeming himself in the eyes of his father, with whom we saw in the previous two stories he had a very tempestuous relationship. Lara still feels that Kurtis is lying to her about something, however. Meanwhile, Bryce and Hillary are on their way to Tokyo on the trail of the accidentally auctioned Dagger of Xian. Confused? Yes, so am I....**

_Already Divided, Soon To Be Conquered_

It was Lara's quick thinking that saved them. Dashing forwards, she reached up and snatched the cover off a ventilation shaft, throwing it down. She jumped up and grabbed hold of the edge of the metal walled tunnel and pulled herself up, tumbling inside and turning quickly in the cramped space to grab the cover off Kurtis as he held it up to her and then took his hand and hauled him up to join her. He snatched the cover back off her and just managed to replace it before footsteps approaching rapidly manifested themselves as a medical team scattering around the corner, wheeling gurneys and running towards the entrances some distance away.

Kurtis' breath whistled softly against the grating as the metal cleaved the air, demonstrating his ragged respiration of fright and recovery as he stared down on the corridor at the spot where they had just been. Lara sat behind him, her head against the wall, her eyes closed, her knees brought up to her chest, willing the adrenaline in her system to fade away. She opened her eyes and tilted her head to the side to look at him and swallowed.

"Are you ok?"

He nodded, eyes still fixed on the view outside of the shaft. Cheney stalked past, his manner determined and commanding. Kurtis watched him go and then turned to stare at Lara. At first she thought he just didn't quite know what to do next, but then she saw through the gloom the dangerous look in his eyes and she knew that she was about to have an argument on her hands.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" His voice was a fierce whisper, a ranting shout curbed in an effort to prevent their discovery.

Lara blinked, unsure what she'd done wrong. "I'm sorry?"

"If we'd stayed in the corridor I could have talked our way out of it, but now we're in _here_, if we're caught, there's absolutely nothing I can say to explain it." He was resting on his haunches and balancing on his toes, as challenging a position as the shaft would allow, and his back was to the grating, cutting off most of the available light and leaving Lara in a dark, cramped, claustrophobic space that only added to her horror at his sudden tirade that had come just when she thought they were getting on so well. Submissive she was not, though, and she got to her knees and spat back a retort with as much quiet vengeance as she could muster.

"This is my fault, is it? I forced you up here, did I? I'm sorry, but I rather thought that you followed me in here!"

"Oh, like I had a choice! You were already half way in before I realised what you doing! What am I supposed to do? Stand in the corridor and then explain to Cheney why we're arguing over whether or not to hide in the ventilation shaft?"

Lara's eyed narrowed and she fixed Kurtis with a look that barely warned against the full extent of the danger implied in her voice when she said, "There's more going on here than you're letting on. Something about you doesn't quite add up, and now that the cult leader is here and our time is up, I'm no longer prepared to hang around waiting to find out the truth. Goodbye, Kurtis. A pleasure, as always."

Her forearm came to his throat and shoved him back against the wall, where it pressed ever harder, cutting off his air supply. He grabbed at her arm, choking, his eyes confused and pleading, but she pressed only harder, until he lapsed into unconsciousness and fell limp against the floor of the shaft. She checked his pulse and assured herself he was breathing easily, and then, smiling wryly to herself as she stole his keycard, turned and crawled off down the ventilation shaft.

* * *

It was only a few minutes later when Kurtis came round, blinking himself back to lucidity and looking around to remind himself where he was and what had happened. His hand immediately went to his pocket to check on his keycard.

"That _bitch_," he swore to himself when he felt nothing there.

* * *

If there was one thing Lara had learned over the years, it was mapping unknown areas unconsciously, vital for a quick escape. She followed her instincts to navigate the ventilation shafts to get as close to the exit corridor as she could and then to her delight, looked out through another grating to find herself directly above the exit corridor, empty and inviting.

* * *

Kurtis scrambled to his knees and checked the coast was clear before kicking off the ventilation grating and dropping to the ground. Even as he landed he was looking left and right for signs of anyone around before he took off down the corridor, sprinting for the exits.

* * *

Lara flipped herself forward out of the ventilation shaft, landing neatly and lightly with knees bent and feet apart, frozen in place as she listened for sounds of approaching Company agents. None came, and so, smiling triumphantly, she fingered the stolen keycard, tripping lightly over to the nearest exit door.

* * *

Kurtis flew down the corridors, skidding to halts with his arms flailing for balance as he reached corners, chest heaving and mouth open as he dashed to cut Lara off.

The cult mission team had already moved on and the exit door swished open to reveal an empty, shadowy car park populated only by their Jeep. Lara laughed quietly to herself and put a foot outside the door.

"CROFT!" Kurtis rounded a corner and bellowed as he saw Lara stepping out of the open doorway. Startled, she turned to see him bearing down on her. Lara turned and ran, taking off across the car park at breakneck speed towards the Jeep. The door began to close behind her and Kurtis, never slowing for a second, thrust out his arm towards it, shoving his hand through the air in a mimed action of forcing the door back into its housing, the resulting action of his telekinesis sending the metal door slamming back into the innards of the wall, contacting with a clanging crash, sparks flying from friction and shorted electrics. The door bounced back from the impact, sliding along its runnings back towards its closed position as Kurtis darted through, twisting sideways to make it through the rapidly closing gap. The din forced Lara to look back over her shoulder as she ran, costing her vital seconds as her new perspective sent her curving away from the Jeep, a mistake she corrected too late.

Her skewed path took her too far away from the car, and just as she was about to reach forward towards the door, a weight landing on her back sent her crashing to the ground, twisting as she fell in an attempt to escape. Kurtis had tackled her, and they hit the ground hard, his arms pinning her own to her sides, he landing on top of her, her ankle scraping painfully against the ground, her knee grazing against the concrete, her head banging sharply and dizzyingly against the floor. They lay there, Lara winded by the double impact of Kurtis' weight and the ground, and Kurtis drawing in deep lungfuls of air in an effort to catch his breath.

"Dammit, Croft," he growled, the anger clear in his countenance but underlain by something approaching humour, "you're nothing but trouble." The humour broke through, then, as he hauled her to her feet, forcing her cooperation but still not appearing rough. "Come on," he said, sounding like a parent that has just had to return a child to bed after they've crept back out just like they do every evening, "back to the nice Company Headquarters."

Lara voiced her protest through wordless complaints and constant struggles, but Kurtis had her securely captive, and the scene, comical to the outside viewer, elicited more than a few smiles as he bodily carried her, feet never quite touching the floor, back to her quarters. The door was opened upon their arrival by a waiting guard, the expression on his face one of clear wonderment at the situation, and Kurtis strode straight in, throwing Lara onto the bed where she bounced a few times and glared. The guard still had the door open, staring after them with interest, and Kurtis moved over to him and plucked a small black pouch off the guard's belt. Lara sat on the bed, knowing escape was now impossible, as he opened the pouch and removed a small syringe.

"Oh no you don't!" She scrambled off the bed and dodged away but found herself backed into a corner; obviously no escape but she wasn't going willingly.

"Then quit running away, ok?" Trent strode around the bed, grabbed Lara's arm and pulled it outwards, exposing the underside of her forearm. "Relax, it's just a sedative." He waved the syringe in front of her. "If you didn't cause so much bother, I wouldn't be doing this. Would I?"

Lara glared.

* * *

The final few frames of the ending animation of the game played and Bryce and Hillary, tired, relieved and emotionally drained after their virtual ordeal, flopped back into their seats.

Bryce raised a weary hand and saved the game, then shut down his laptop and let his arm fall back to his lap. "That was…scary."

"I need a drink."

Bryce rolled his head to the side and looked at Hillary. "Duty free?"

Hillary returned the look and then nodded. "I think so."

The air hostess emerged from the front cabin, drinks trolley in tow.

"Excuse me!" they shouted in unison.

* * *

"Mr Cheney, Sir." The man, tall and slender, dressed in ripped jeans and a New Found Glory T-shirt with mid length sandy hair and dark brown eyes, swung his feet off the desk and leapt to standing as his boss walked in.

"You paged me?" Cheney asked.

"Yes, Sir," the man drawled. He flopped back into his chair and replaced his feet on the desk, then grabbed the keyboard off his computer and pulled it onto his lap. He started tapping commands into the computer, explaining as he did so, "Trent and Croft have been caught on surveillance. Thought you'd wanna see this."

As the final command filtered through into the computer's memory, a window opened up on the monitor and a recording of Lara and Kurtis clambering into the ventilation system played.

"Then we saw this…" Another few key taps brought up Lara dropping out of the ventilation shaft and making for the exit.

"And at the same time, this…" Kurtis chasing after her, running at full pelt through the hallways, one long recording made of the views from several different cameras.

"Culminating in this…" An exterior shot showing Kurtis diving forward and tackling Lara to the ground before picking her up and carrying her back inside.

"And the gossip mill's having a field day with this one…" A final shot edited together from several cameras showing Kurtis carrying a struggling Lara back to her quarters, under the amused gazes of several Company agents now that they were further into the heart of the building where the night shift clustered.

Cheney laughed, bouncing on his toes, and the surveillance operative sniggered. "What were they doing out of Lara's quarters?" Cheney asked.

"That's what we wondered. So we checked the logs and found that after some round about wandering, they went off camera in hall 3A, when they left the CCTV network and went into the high security wing where of course, there are no cameras. After that they didn't show up until that shot of them going into the ventilation shaft."

"So…?"

The man tapped a few more commands into his keyboard and a text file opened up showing a log of computer activity. "Once in the high security wing they somehow got into the lift and showed up checking the computer files at the main server for all information pertaining to mission mark two two niner eight RC. After that they must have dodged the cameras."

Cheney smiled again, his trademark devious smirk. "She got to him. Kurtis told her…the truth."

"Yes, Sir." The man smiled his own expression of heady power bought on by watching and knowing, like a god.

Cheney chuckled and began to leave but the man spoke. "Do you want us to start surveillance in their quarters?"

Cheney, facing the door, stopped and considered and then threw over his shoulder as he left, "No. Let them have their privacy. Might as well give them a fighting chance." He laughed again.

* * *

"Cheney! Glad I found you, Sir." At the mention of his name, Cheney turned to find Kurtis jogging up the corridor behind him. He stopped, waiting for the other man to catch up to him and then continued walking, back to his office.

"Mr Trent."

"Thought you'd like to know that Lara tried to escape. But I caught her, put her in her quarters under guard. She's sedated for the time being."

"Yes," Cheney said knowingly, "I heard. Quite a chase."

"You saw the CCTV footage, then?"

They reached Cheney's office and he lowered the door handle but paused before opening it, saying conversationally, "You won't have to worry about her for much longer. Why don't you take a stroll down to Holding Cell Three? Our newest guest is in there." He smiled pleasantly and disappeared into his office, leaving Kurtis running his hand through his hair coolly and smiling smugly, confident that he and Lara had just managed to outwit their newest nemesis.

* * *

Trent took a deep breath and then opened the door to the observation suite looking into Holding Cell Three, prepared for a reprise of the very nasty demonstration he'd had when he'd first been brought into The Company.

A scream, somewhat distorted and tinny, met his ears as he stepped inside, filling the room and spilling out into the corridor through the open door from its source in the loud speakers within. Outwardly, though, it did not affect him, and he simply closed the door behind him and moved over to the woman behind the desk, logging her observations with notes and comments as she watched the interrogation taking place in the holding cell, the audio feed providing the stomach churning soundtrack.

She looked up as he approached and offered a slight smile, but turned back to her papers and carried on scribbling down her thoughts, busy. Long blonde hair, pale blue eyes and a daring, individual dress sense, made her just the type of woman Kurtis usually took an interest in, but her ability to coolly catalogue the implications of the unfortunate prisoner's cries for mercy made her at that moment one of the most unattractive women he had ever met. He didn't show his horror, however, just closed himself off to any reaction from the scene in front of him and asked, "This is the cult leader?"

"No," she said, still watching the proceedings, "they lost him. All they managed to bring back was this one and two others. We think they're priests or something else high up in the pecking order, but this one isn't talking and out of the other two one died and the other tried to kill himself before he got caught, so he's in medical being treated for blood loss."

Kurtis sighed inwardly, raising his eyes to heaven and thanking whoever might be watching over them that they didn't have the cult leader. Until The Company had him in custody, ready for Lara to kill, and be killed herself as a result, they had a chance. "One died?" he asked, pretending to be casually interested and just as callous as the woman he was talking to.

"Heart failure. Extremely early on in the interrogation, we think he probably had heart problems."

"Lucky for him, huh?" Kurtis laughed, trying to cover his growing nausea.

The woman just looked back at him with an icy stare, unimpressed. "Unlucky for us."

Nodding in acceptance of her stern putdown, he swallowed hard and then left the room, desperately trying to keep himself together as he hurried back through the halls to Lara's room.


	18. Clearing The Haze

**I have been having _horrendous_ trouble with this site - it keeps saying the servers are overloaded, so I either lose all the formatting I've done on my latest chapter upload (grrrr) or I can't review others' work!! **

**Linzi and Lady Lara Croft, as ever, thankyou for your reviews. I'm thrilled that everyone seems to be loving this so much, I never dreamed it would go down so well! Yay! And yes, New Found Glory rule! Read and review, people, it lights up my otherwise dreary days!!**

**Here is yet another update for you, so soon after the last. ;-) I just couldn't stop writing - churned out this chapter and then had to annoyingly wait for two days before I could log in to post it. Don't know when the next update will be since I start a full time job tomorrow and will be getting up and 6am and not returning home til gone 6pm, so writing may be consigned to weekends only. I may just make time, though, because we're reaching the end and I'm getting excited! Whoo hoo! By the way, the Travelocity ad campaign mentioned in this chapter is, at least in Britain, a series of short, funny ads centering around travel guru Alan Whicker going to all these different places and saying, 'Hello' to them. The 'Hello, Morocco' ad is pure genius, it really is.**

_Clearing The Haze_

Bryce and Hillary stared out of the massive windows of Narita Airport, bags slung over their shoulders, as rumpled and jet lagged as all the other travellers bustling around them.

"Tokyo." Hillary sighed as he took in the impressive view of the distant, technology driven city, feats of civil engineering, electronics and mass transport commonplace and lost among each other.

"That was a really good game," said Bryce, eyeing the software developer's headquarters in the distance.

"Traffic's murder," Hillary commented.

"I wonder if they'd be interested in buying my Tomb Raider concept?" Bryce mused.

"Do you think many people speak English?"

"I wonder if we'll have time to go to the video games press show?"

"Do they have tea in Tokyo?"

Bryce chose that moment to leave his own little corner of the universe and actually listen to what Hillary was saying. "What?"

Hillary looked back at him, blinking, equally unaware until then that anything existed outside of his own existence and the view of the city. "What?"

Bryce, deciding that a change of subject was needed, pointed to his left, opened his mouth for a moment and then said, "We need a taxi."

* * *

Groggy, angry, irritated and tired, Lara came round from the drugs. She blinked, clearing her vision, as she looked around the room, stopping abruptly as her eyes fell on the familiar form of Kurtis, sitting on a backwards chair and leaning his arms and chin on the back of it, watching her wake.

"Morning, gorgeous," he said despondently, all trace of his usual humour and joy at rubbing her up the wrong way gone.

"Pig," Lara muttered, looking distinctly unhappy to see him. She reached and felt for the clock on the bedside table, bringing it to her face where she still lay on the bed and groaning when she saw the time. Seven forty a.m. No wonder she felt groggy, she'd been out for over four hours and it hadn't even been proper sleep.

"That drug was only supposed to have you out for a couple of hours, you must have been tired."

Lara didn't answer, instead rubbing her eyes and stretching.

"They don't have the cult leader. He got away. They got two of his lackeys, though, they're being questioned now."

"Well, with good news like that, no wonder you're so perky," Lara said sarcastically, managing to sit up and regard Kurtis steadily.

In response he only squeezed his eyes shut and banged his forehead against his arms where they rested across the top of the chair back, staying that way so that his voice was muffled when he said, "God, Lara, we're in trouble."

"Oh good, I wondered when you were going to come clean."

* * *

The taxi doors swung open and Bryce and Hillary scrambled out. The taxi driver got out and opened the boot so that they could retrieve their bags and, accepting payment graciously and politely, smiled, offered a small bow, and got back into the car. As it sped away back into the busy Tokyo traffic, it left the two men, dagger hunter extraordinaires, standing on the kerb staring out over the road to the bustling pedestrians, skyscrapers and neon signs all around them.

"Hello, Tokyo," said Bryce in a perfect imitation of the Travelocity ad campaign.

"Hello, World!" Hillary added, grinning.

* * *

"When I was going to come clean?" Kurtis looked up at that, repeating Lara's words in a precise manner as if she had offended him. She had. "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

Lara got off the bed and moved around to the middle of the room, forcing Kurtis to twist on the chair as he followed her with his eyes to where she stopped, somewhere behind him. "I'm tired of this, Kurtis!" She spread her arms and gazed at him almost imploringly. "I'm tired of the lies, the betrayal. I never know where I am with you from one moment to the next, you never tell me the full story and yet you still expect me to help you, you can't decide whether you're on my side or Cheney's, and there's definitely something big going on here that you aren't telling me about!"

Kurtis slowly stood, keeping his eyes fixed on Lara's, his body moving even as his head stayed still giving the impression of a hunter readying to pounce on its prey.

"Oh, so I'm not giving you the full story, am I?" His voice was low and dangerous, his cold blue eyes hard and icy with confrontation as he kept his head bowed to remain on Lara's level. One foot crossed over the other in a sidestep as he slowly began to circle her, panther to deer, but he had only taken two steps covering just a small arc when he spun and aimed a kick at his chair, sending it crashing into the dressing table, making Lara jump, her arms snapping to her sides as she stiffened in momentary fright at the sudden movement.

No sooner had he attacked the chair then he had turned on her, hands outstretched to his sides in an imploring effort to make her understand as he shouted his words into her face, spitting them with pent up frustration and fear.

"_Think, Croft! Look at the evidence! I'm scared!!_" Kurtis jabbed his fingers towards his chest, an emphatic gesture to his state of mind. His voice suddenly became quieter again, lowered back to its earlier threatening tone. "After I left Croft Manor, I was numb. I turned off all my emotions and lived quite happily doing business and using women. Then you came along and screwed everything up, just like in Paris. You just had to do it, didn't ya? Make me feel again! You've ruined everything, Lara! Don't you get it?! _I'm going to die!_" Eyes still locked onto hers, wide and glittering with anger and fear as he opened verbal fire on her, leaving her staring back in a state between pain and confusion.

"What?" She shook her head, brows furrowed in bafflement, not having the slightest idea what he was talking about.

Waking up to his behaviour, realising that he was attacking the wrong person, Kurtis spun to face away from Lara, hands clapping over his face as he suddenly became weary from the whole stressful, uncontrollable, horrible situation. He let out a long heavy breath, the air pooling in his hands noisily, and then slid his hands out to the side of his face, taking desperate handfuls of hair for a moment before releasing and moving down to the back of his neck where he squeezed painfully at the stress knotting in his muscles as he tipped his head back, eyes closed, and let out a moan towards the ceiling, repressed anguish now washing over him freely like one long cold shower waking him up to the full horrendous reality of the fucked up mess he'd got himself into.

"I am _so_ sorry, Lara," he groaned, his body suddenly becoming limp. "I don't know how I ever thought…"

"What? Kurtis! Tell me!" Her voice broke into his consciousness and he realised that in his catharsis he had almost forgotten the woman he was apologising to was there. Her cool hands, smooth and soothing, made contact with his arm and shoulder and he looked up to find her standing at his side, concern etched on her features as she stared up at him. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

He told her. Told her everything as they sat together on the floor, Lara's legs stretched out to her side, his own forming triangles with the carpet, his head turned to look at her straight on as she sat as his side. The wry smile on his lips as he spoke mocked his own stupidity in his earlier actions, the firm grip he kept on Lara's hands begged her understanding and forgiveness. She sat, listening, barely believing what she heard.

* * *

"According to the map, the guy's apartment should be just up here," said Bryce, examining the paper in his hands as he walked, unconsciously dodging busy Japanese as he and Hillary threaded their way through the throngs. The occasional tourist or rare native not rushing to double the number of hours in their day passed by them, smiling or just simply sparing Lara's two a glance, fellow leaves getting tossed and turned by the fast flowing undercurrent of the chaotic city dwellers around them, out of synch, out of place. Bryce was completely oblivious to it all.

"Sorry, sorry," Hillary continually gasped, swinging his bag out of the way of passers by, sidestepping them as they seemingly ploughed straight into him, stumbling and tripping over his own feet in an effort to avoid the melee. It was always the same – Bryce sailed through life without even looking and yet Hillary was constantly doing everything in his power to stay on top of things and still got dragged into the undertow. One of the many reasons Hillary often found Bryce grating, he mused.

* * *

"I had it all planned so perfectly," Kurtis said, his voice almost a whisper, his chin fallen to his chest. "This great plan, precise detail. I set everything up just right. Hinted to Cheney that you were dangerous, that you'd want to steal the Tip from him, convinced him I didn't care that you were supposed to die. Convinced myself that I didn't care that you were supposed to die. It was flawless. Perfect. And then I backed out.

"These people, Lara, The Company – you don't steal from them and get away with it. They will hunt you down, they will find you. And when they do they will take back everything you've taken from them, find that most dear to you, destroy it before your eyes, and then torture you and kill you and leave your body to rot somewhere where no-one will ever find it. And that's you. Gone. Just, disappeared. The last anybody knew you went missing. Nobody ever finds out what happens to you. You're lost, forgotten. Maybe that's the worst part. I saw it. When I first came here. They were torturing one of their own just because he'd made a mistake on a mission. A little mistake. He'd gotten confused inside of a building, got lost on his way out. It could've cost the team vital seconds, they said. Could've got somebody hurt or killed. It didn't, but they didn't care about that. Tortured him to make sure he'd learn his lesson."

Kurtis looked up to Lara and looked deep into her eyes as he said, "I will never forget the utter hopelessness in his eyes. He knew that he had no escape. People who work for The Company, they're practically prisoners. The outside world forgot them a long time ago.

"These people, Lara. There is no salvation."

Lara shook her head again, still confused. "I don't understand. We were going to steal the Tip, weren't we?"

"_I_ was going to get the Tip. You were going to get the blame."

"What?" He knew then that she understood, she just couldn't accept that she hadn't made a mistake.

"I was going to steal the Periapt Tip myself after we'd been through the Periapt Complex. I was going to frame you for it so that I could slip away and disappear and The Company wouldn't even come looking for me, thinking they'd got you. I told you we were going to steal the Tip right at the very beginning so that when they made you take a lie detector test when they were investigating who'd stolen it, you'd be incriminated. You may not have known the truth, but you knew about _a_ plan to steal it. I'd already told Cheney that you would want to steal it. All I had to do was plant a little evidence, make a few throw away comments, and The Company goes after you thinking you're the thief. You don't tell them where it is because you don't know, but they just think you're lying. They centre their search for it on you and meanwhile I'm halfway across the world with the Tip in my protection and no-one's even thinking about me in the chaos of going after you. But right from the moment I laid eyes on you in the hotel I knew I couldn't do it. Just took me a while to realise it, that's all. And now there's no way out. Either I steal the Tip and hide it somewhere safe before they find me, or you're forced to kill the cult leader and die yourself, and the Tip gets left in Cheney's corrupt hands where he uses it as a bargaining chip to gain control of other occult organisations and increase his sphere of influence. I can't let that happen. I'm trapped."

Kurtis' head fell again, eyes staring sightlessly to his lap, numb shock at his inescapable fate engulfing his whole body and leaving it cold and resigned. A voice, quiet and disbelieving, stuttered its way into his thoughts. He looked up to see Lara shaking her head in denial as she spoke, her face written with torment at the truth.

"I…I…I don't believe it." She stood, shakily and clumsily getting to her feet where she staggered slightly, too overcome to find her usual balance. "I knew you were lying about something but I never…I mean it was obvious that you had some reason for telling me about the false plan to steal the Tip from the Complex, but I didn't think that it could…"

"Lara…" Kurtis stood, taking her hands again and forcing her to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry, but you've gotta realise – "

"Realise _what_, Kurtis?!" She came back to herself then, all shock and upset washed away in a sudden torrent of rage at his admission. "Realise that all along you were using me and planning on selling me out because when you planned it all you were having emotional problems?! Am I supposed to feel _sorry_ for you?!" As she spoke the word 'sorry' she wrenched her hands from his and turned her back on him, her fingers coming to her forehead in a show of confusion and turmoil. "Am I even supposed to believe you now? You've lied to me so much, this could just be all part of something even bigger, couldn't it? I might never get to the bottom of this, just get picked up and swept along, just another battle casualty!"

"Lara!" Kurtis appeared directly behind her, hands squeezing her shoulders and forcing her to turn back to him. "It's the truth, I swear!"

"Is it?! How do I know that you're not just trying to save your little plan that I ruined when I escaped from the Periapt Complex?" Her eyes flashed angrily at him, her voice almost ranting.

"No!" His own voice contrasted with hers sharply as he begged her to believe him, pulling the hair out of his eyes to make clear, unobstructed eye contact with her, baring his soul in one intense, glittering azure gaze. "Lara, if I'd wanted to do that I could have just told Cheney all about our plan to steal the Tip once we got back to The Company and made out that it was all your idea and I was just going along with it to trap you for him! Shift all the blame on you and take it myself anyway! Come on, sweetheart, you _have_ to believe me! I'm telling the truth! I am in big trouble here and I need your help!"

She returned his look for only a moment but then snatched herself away and pulled out of his hands where they were resting on her elbows, moving for the door, but Kurtis lunged forward and grabbed her arms again, shoving her painfully back into the corner of the room just a foot behind her.

"You're not going anywhere," he breathed menacingly, suddenly forceful in his desperation.

She stared back at him, eyes flaming, refusing to acknowledge the discomfort from his tight grasp. "Let go of me."

"You're not going anywhere," Trent repeated, holding her gaze with a look of his own that was even more menacing in its interruption from his dark strands of hair falling dangerously over his face. Lara wouldn't back down, not bothering to try and fight from her disadvantaged position but challenging him to keep her captive all the same. Her defiance reminded him just why he admired her so much, and he melted, unable to continue the hard line act around her.

"Lara," he sighed, relaxing into her and dropping his head to bring him closer to her height. He was rudely awakened when she took the chance to shove him off her, pushing him back against the wall and marching out of the room, braid swinging violently.

"Lara!" His voice was frustrated, angry, both with her and with himself, everything he was feeling at that moment. Spinning round, he aimed a punch at the wall, bringing his fist down on the plaster and denting it, pain shooting up through his arm.

"Fuck!"

* * *

"Here we are," Bryce announced, stopping at the bottom of some steps leading up to a grand yet modern plate glass set of double doors, the entrance to a very upmarket apartment building in the centre of Tokyo. He and Hillary climbed the steps and entered through the automatic doors. They nodded politely at the woman at the front desk, but she offered no resistance to their intrusion so they carried on towards the lifts and stopped at the polished golden doors as they waited for the lift to arrive.

"Let's hope he speaks English," said Hillary.

"Living in a place like this, he probably has his own translator," Bryce quipped, staring around the marble walls, art deco design and stark white lighting.

With a ding the lift arrived and the outer doors slid open, revealing a massive mirrored carriage that was so upmarket it didn't even have the fingerprints from daily use that so often mar a posh, otherwise well maintained area.

Bryce whistled in appreciation and stepped inside, turning slowly and taking in the grand surroundings.

"What floor?" Hillary asked, hand poised above the buttons.

"Erm…thirty five."

"That's…the penthouse suite," said Hillary, examining the available floors. His eyebrows raised and he regarded his partner in crime with a semi impressed look.

"Nice," said Bryce, nodding appreciatively.

* * *

Kurtis dashed out in pursuit of Lara, colliding with the guards on the door who were just picking themselves up from Lara's assault as she'd forced her way out. Shoving them out of his way, he ran after her, she already taking off around the corner.

"Lara!" he yelled.

She continued without regard, but he put everything into the chase and began to catch up with her, sprinting down the long narrow corridor uncaring for the slippery tiled surface that threatened to send him flying, the same impediment that was forcing Lara to run that tiny bit slower in an effort to escape without error.

"Lara!" he panted, leaning forward and reaching out for her arms that flailed at her sides as she fought to keep her balance. Her caught a wrist, leaving her skidding to a halt at the sudden pull on her body, thrashing her arm and aiming a punch to his stomach as she tried to escape.

They struggled against each other for a moment, oblivious to the environment around them, but they both suddenly stopped and stared up in horror as they each heard the familiar clicking of a multitude of semi automatic weapons being readied and aimed at them, Cheney standing behind his guards with a wry smile, hands clasped behind his back.

"Mr Trent, Lady Croft. We've located the leader of the Rebirth Cult. You leave in half an hour."


	19. Reaching Into Darkness, Failing To Shout

**Ta da! 'Nother chapter. My first week at work was great fun, but very tiring. I spent my lunchtimes working on this, I hope its worth it.**

**Lara-is-my-role-model - thankyou for your kind words! You had to read five chapters in one go? Where have you been?! You've been missing all the fun! ;-)**

**Lady Lara Croft - You're spoiling me with all your excellent reviews! (Please don't stop!) If you ask me, Tomb Raider totally merits a delay in homework, especially when there's Kurtis-ness involved. Hee Hee.**

**Quick recap: Lara Croft is one of the few people worthy of yielding an ancient Knights Templar weapon, the Periapt Tip, that requires a good soul for its magic to work, enabling it to kill gods. The Company, holding the Tip in their possession, are forcing Lara to use it to kill a cult leader Gero whom they see as a security risk, but in doing so the Tip will drain her lifeforce and kill her. The cult leader, apparently invincible to normal weapons,has been located hiding in Nevada and Lara and Kurtis are about to be sent to see that he is killed. Kurtis has admitted that, in among the many other double crosses he's been pulling (he's really starting to confuse me), his original plan was to steal the Tip from The Company in order to keep it under his protection as his Lux Veritatis heritage dictates he should. Unfortunately he planned to escape The Company's wrath by framing Lara for the crime, leaving her to almost certain death at the hands of Cheney. Lara is deeply hurt, Kurtis is afraid, worried by the web of deceit he's spun, and guilt ridden at ever thinking he could hurt Lara, and Cheney knows more about Kurtis' deceit than anyone realises.And Bryce and Hillary? Still on the trail of that pesky Dagger of Xian before Lara realises it ever went missing...**

_Reaching Into Darkness, Failing To Shout_

At Cheney's malicious greeting, Lara and Kurtis straightened and pulled apart, only Kurtis' fingers remaining resting on Lara's wrist, a small anchor of comfort in the growing swell of crises.

"You found him?" Kurtis' voice trembled at the outset but quickly found its feet again, maintaining the appearance of control.

"Yes. We attacked one of his bases in Cornwall by way of reconnaissance, but it turned out that he was there. As soon as word reached him that we were preparing to move in on his position, he fled. We tracked him to Nevada, where we believe he's now hiding in a cave complex."

"Last night was a planned recon mission and not a short-notice attack? I wasn't told."

"No. You weren't."

At Cheney's reply, Kurtis' eyes slid shut momentarily as if to scold himself for failing – Cheney knew perfectly well that Kurtis could no longer be trusted and Kurtis now knew it.

"So _I'm _going to find _him_?" Lara asked. "You're not bringing him here?"

"No. You're going to Nevada." Cheney turned and began to walk away, but he had only taken a few steps when he shouted out to them as he continued on, "A few of my agents will be going with you. I need assurance that you'll carry out your job, I'm sure you understand."

* * *

"_I'll_ do the talking," Hillary said as he and Bryce stepped out of the lift.

"What? You think I can't be trusted?"

"No."

* * *

"Marcus!"

Marcus looked up from where he was sitting in the locker room, checking over his gun as he suited up to leave on his mission to Nevada, and saw Cheney standing in the doorway, regarding him stiffly.

"Yes, Mr Cheney, Sir?"

"When you find Gero, make sure Lara kills him. Then make sure that the Tip has done its job and she's dead, then put a bullet in Trent."

Without waiting for an answer, Cheney turned and marched away again.

* * *

"We're here to see Mr Takagi," Hillary said, smiling widely at the maid who had opened the door to the penthouse.

"May I ask what for?" she asked in heavily accented English.

"About a recent purchase he made."

As if expecting them, the maid smiled and stepped back, opening the door wider for them to enter. "Wait in there, please," she said, indicating a doorway to the left.

He and Bryce did as they were told, Bryce inspecting the sumptuous chairs seated at a huge oak desk in the lavishly decorated office.

"This bloke's as rich as Lara from the looks of it."

"And it seemed like it wasn't that unusual for Takagi to get visitors about purchases. I wonder what that's about?"

Hillary's question was soon answered when a middle aged man in a handmade suit entered the room, smiling broadly, and said, "Gentlemen! You are here to buy?"

"I'm sorry?" said Hillary.

"You're not in the antiques business?"

"Erm…"

"Yes!" Bryce broke in. "We are. And…we were referred to you as a dealer fit to do business with." It was a guess, but correct. Takagi, specialist antiques dealer, smiled warmly and sat at his desk.

"Whom do you represent?" he asked.

"Turing and Co," said Bryce, gaining a glare from Hillary. "We're interested in buying the Dagger of Xian from you."

"So soon? I only received it this morning, I didn't realise word of its new ownership would be out on the market yet."

"So you're willing to sell?" Hillary asked, praying that the purchase had been one of business and not pleasure.

"Yes, of course. What point in doing business if not for profit? What is your bid?"

"One point five million," Bryce said, taking a stab in the dark at the value and hoping that he wasn't grossly overbidding.

"Two million," said Takagi, starting the haggling.

Bryce let out a sigh of relief that he had apparently undervalued but not suspiciously so. "One point seven," said Hillary.

"One point nine."

"One point seven five."

"One point eight."

"One point seven six. Final offer."

"Done," said Takagi without hesitation. He held out his hand and he and Hillary shook on the deal. "I will fetch the dagger whilst my accountant in the next room sets up a transaction for you."

Bryce waited until he'd left the room and then said, "Bloody hell. He just made almost two million in less than a minute. I'm definitely in the wrong business."

"Mmmm," Hillary agreed grudgingly.

* * *

Lara and Kurtis reached the locker room just as the agents going with them finished getting ready and began trooping out, leaving them alone in the dimly lit area. Lara immediately began searching through the clothing racks for combat gear to fit her but Kurtis was not so eager to get going and paused, standing by the benches in the middle of the room.

"We'll figure something out," he said to Lara's turned back.

"I fully intend to," said Lara, pulling out a jacket and dropping it on the floor beside her as she began to search for trousers.

"We have a few hours, it'll be ok."

"Kurtis." Lara stopped then and turned. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let Cheney win." She turned back to her work, leaving Kurtis to sigh worriedly and begin to procure his own gear.

* * *

"That was…stupidly easy," Bryce said, he and Hillary stood outside Takagi's door staring at the receipt promising delivery of the dagger in England within the next three days.

* * *

"Hey," Kurtis sighed as he sat down next to Lara on the military style jet, benches along the walls. It was not long after take off, only an hour after they had been informed of their mission, and the rest of the team had either bedded down among the equipment and team members for some rest, or were sitting bundled together in small groups around the aircraft talking and playing cards, leaving the two outsiders to sit alone and ostracised. "I just spoke to the pilot, we got about ten hours to kill. We should probably plan – "

"I've had enough of plans," said Lara curtly, turning away and folding her arms.

Kurtis sighed again and let his head drop in response, deciding he deserved short shrift.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but he knew Lara was probably ignoring him. Hesitating, unsure whether or not he could say the words, he eventually whispered, "I'm not gonna let you die," and then stood and walked away.

Lara had heard him, and she wanted to turn around to acknowledge him, thank him for his concern, apologise, assure him, anything. But she couldn't, and so she stayed staring at the wall, biting her lip and wandering when it would all be over.

* * *

Bryce and Hillary, strolling along the streets of Tokyo in what was for them evening time, basking in the elation of a mission completed and Lara none the wiser, considered what to do next.

"Back to England, then?" Hillary suggested.

"Seriously, Hillary, _what_ is wrong with you?! This is Tokyo! We only just got here and you want to leave? What's the point? The dagger won't be delivered to the mansion for a few days yet."

"And if Lara gets home? What are we going to tell her when she calls wondering where we are?"

"Easy. Tell her after we went to the cinema we had a drink in the bar, got drunk, and woke up hung over and clueless in the middle of Tokyo."

"Do you honestly think she'll believe that?"

"It's possible. Happened to me after graduation. A first class degree, twelve shots of vodka and the next thing I knew I was waking up in New Guinea with a blonde on one side and a copy of War and Peace on the other. Never did find out what went on there." Hillary surveyed Bryce with a prolonged sideways glance and gave a bemused cough. "Got a call from Lara offering me the job the same day. Lucky, really, I'd bought a single ticket and didn't have enough money to get back home again. She was very generous."

"So what are we going to do then?" the long suffering Hillary asked.

"We're in Tokyo. What _aren't_ we going to do?!"

* * *

Lara stretched out on the bench and settled her gaze on Kurtis. He was sleeping, lying on the floor of the aircraft with his borrowed black flak jacket wrapped tightly around him, his arms folded protectively over his chest and his face covered with his cap, his backpack acting as a pillow.

It was odd, seeing him in full combat gear, Lara decided. All the time she'd known him he'd dressed in a style that was only Kurtis, gone out fighting in Prague wearing civilian combats and a T-shirt, and now here he was wearing traditional military gear with all the gadgets and gizmos of a modern soldier that he'd shown no need for before. It just wasn't right, somehow, though it was obvious from his easy handling of the gear and comfort in the clothes that it had been his standard garb in the Legion. Maybe he'd just got bored of it.

His sleep didn't appear to be easy. He was shifting slightly and making small noises of discontent. A nightmare? She considered going over and waking him, but something stopped her from moving, and so she turned over to face the wall, got comfortable and closed her eyes, searching for sleep but finding only replays of her conversations with Kurtis for the past few days.

* * *

"Lady Croft!" Lara was jolted awake, the unashamed barking of her name yanking her from what she realised had been sleep. She didn't know when she'd finally drifted off, but it must have been out of exhaustion more than anything, because the last thing she remembered was far from a sense of relaxation and peace.

Groaning slightly, she pulled herself up and grimaced at her protesting muscles, cramped from sleeping on the narrow, hard bench. The soldier that had woken her was standing over her, his team mates crowded a few steps behind, Kurtis standing to the side of them looking at her with a blank expression, more a sense of waiting indifferently than the air one what would expect from a friend.

Except, he wasn't a friend, was he? She wasn't sure what he was. He wasn't her enemy. He was more than an acquaintance. And yet, he had done things – terrible things – that meant that Lara didn't think they would ever be able to get back onto their original footing. A questioning glance from the soldier made her realise that she was hesitating with her thoughts, and so she quickly pushed them out of her mind, grabbed her equipment, and followed the Company team off the plane.


	20. No Trust Within Myself, All My Faith Is ...

**Well, here's this week's update. Quite a hard one to write, and an even harder one to name. **

**Thanks again, Lady Lara Croft! :-) I quite liked the bidding too. Hee Hee.**

**Just to clarify, Gero is the name of the cult leader that we've been hearing about all this time but know very little about. His name was indirectly mentioned last chapter and this chapter we actually...well, I won't give it away. And all this time you thought he was just a plot device...hee hee.  
By the way - 'Broad Street', as mentioned in this chapter, is a famous area in the city of Birmingham where all the pubs, bars and clubs are situated - sort of a party central on Friday nights.**

_No Trust Within Myself, All My Faith Lies In You_

Forced to land on suitable ground and away from the cave complex where the cult leader, Gero, was believed to be hiding, the team were left with a trek of five klicks across sand and desert. Most of the way was spent in silence for Lara and Kurtis, walking in the middle of the others almost as prisoners, the team laughing and joking around them as soldiers are seemingly wont to do. Lara wondered about Kurtis again, picturing him all too easily as the handsome, cocky Legionnaire he must have been, gambling and playing around with his friends off duty, standing rigid and dutiful in rank when working. It fit. Kurtis was just that kind of man.

She realised she was staring at him when he did, looking over to meet her gaze and smiling crookedly at her obvious interest, embarrassing her. Yes, Kurtis was just that kind of man.

"I know I'm devilishly handsome," he sighed dramatically, "but you should really watch where you're going, it's pretty rocky."

"You keep telling yourself that, Kurtis," Lara shot back.

"What, you _weren't_ admiring me?"

"Actually, I was planning on killing you."

"Sure you were." Kurtis shot her that smile again, snapped off a sloppy salute and then quickened his pace to catch up with the leaders of the group, leaving her trudging along on her own, scowling after him in annoyance. Yes, it was all just an act with him, but it still didn't stop him being intensely infuriating.

* * *

"Oh my god!" squealed Bryce, bursting into Hillary's hotel room where he had just begun to settle after their recent check-in. "Have you _seen_ the TV?!" Without waiting for an answer he dashed across the room, leaving the door wide open, and flicked a switch hiding on the wall. The mirror hanging opposite the bed came out from the wall and then spun round to reveal a huge widescreen plasma TV on the other side, which fitted itself neatly back against the wall and then turned itself on to the hotel channel. "And the shower – you can set the shower to water temperature by the degree!"

Hillary looked bemused. "Why?" he asked, genuinely.

Bryce blinked, finding he didn't really have an answer. "Because – it's cool."

* * *

After what seemed like hours, Marcus stopped the group by an outcrop of rocks, partially overgrown, and checked his GPS system.

"That's it," he said, gesturing to the grey rocks to their side. Shoving the GPS back in his pocket, he marched forward and grabbed some of the desert plants, pulling them out of the way to reveal a small, dark opening at the base of the outcrop. "Royce," he said to one of the members, "take point."

"Yes, Sir," Royce complied, and he stepped forward and crouched down into the hole, sliding forward onto his front and pulling himself in. A few moments of rustling and scraping and then the sound of booted feet on impacted dust echoed back out to the others, followed by Royce's voice. "It's a bit of a squeeze for the first few feet but then it opens out."

Marcus jerked his head at another soldier and then at Lara, sending them in. Lara obediently took the few steps to the entrance and then dropped to her knees and slid lithely into the darkness, bringing her legs around to the front once the tunnel gained in width and height and dropping down a short steep decline into a depression at the bottom – a dried up plunge pool. The other two were already creeping forwards along a tunnel that began as a natural cave but quickly became a man made construction, swinging their torches back and forth into the darkness with their guns aimed ready. A scuffle and a thud behind Lara alerted her to Kurtis' presence, but she didn't look round, instead lighting one of the flares she'd smuggled back from the mansion, uncaring if anybody asked where she'd got it from. She used flares instead of torches and that was that. She no longer cared about trying to maintain the appearance of being a prisoner or under control.

More thuds echoed behind her as she walked into the tunnel, taking in her surroundings and treading carefully, quietly.

No one spoke, not even as the tunnel opened out into a huge torch lit cavern, empty save for a long ledge opposite their entrance high up on the wall, a doorway upon it leading back into blackness within the walls. The team fanned out along the walls as they entered, covering the numerous ground level exits around them leading into yet more darkness, and awaiting orders from their leader, Marcus.

Marcus scanned the room to assess it and, maintaining silence, signalled with his hands for those furthest from him to start off down one tunnel and the rest to follow him, Lara and Kurtis included. He was taking no chances with them.

Lara's group, still looking around them for danger, weapons at the ready, crept off towards their nearest tunnel and ventured inside, spreading their light around them to ward off the blackness. The walls were dry and dusty, flaking off against Lara's hands as she trailed her fingers along. Still staring around her, partially in wonder, partially to ground herself in the unfamiliar surroundings, Lara's eyes lit on Marcus just ahead of her and she realised that he had stopped.

She peered over his shoulder and immediately saw his reason – his torch light had bounced back from a dead end, revealing nothing but rock, and he was now shining it around carefully looking for anything he may have missed. Slightly perturbed by the apparently useless tunnel, Lara turned back to look the way they had come and then stopped dead as she saw over the shoulders of the others behind her as they carried on unwittingly, Gero.

* * *

Bryce and Hillary, slightly unnerved by the foreign territory, walked carefully into the bar, randomly picked from a number of establishments on what appeared to be the Japanese version of Broad Street. They gained a few curious glances but nothing quite as serious as the reaction Hillary had been envisaging where the moment they had stepped in the music had been turned off and everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare. He smiled nervously at those he passed and threaded his way through the patrons behind Bryce, who was making his way to the bar.

"Two vodka and cokes!" Bryce shouted as he approached the bar. The barmaid his order had been directed to looked confused and said something high pitched and Japanese that presumably meant, 'What?".

"Vod-ka and coke!" he repeated, accentuating his syllables and pointing to himself and Hillary rapidly and repeatedly, obviously a subscriber to the theory that any foreign language is just English slowed down and turned up.

The barmaid shook her head and squeaked some more Japanese and Bryce, sighing, plucked a notepad and pen from his pocket. "I was afraid of this," he muttered to Hillary, and then proceeded to scribble down a picture of a bottle and the Russian flag next to it, and the universal Coca Cola logo, and then drew a massive '2' beneath it. He waved it at the barmaid, who took it, examined it carefully and then, with a look of realisation crossing her face, beamed back at Bryce and served up two lightening fast vodka and cokes. She grinned proudly as she presented them to her guests and Bryce, accepting them, grinned back.

* * *

Lara snatched up her gun and aimed it at the cult leader, causing Kurtis behind her to give a 'Whoa!' and leap back, snapping his head back the way he had come to see what Lara was challenging even as his Boron X was being raised. Scuffling and the sound of weapons being readied filled the tunnel as the Company agents all leapt to their senses, alerted by Lara's commotion.

Gero was almost ethereal. A pinkish glow radiated out from his deep red clothes of baggy silk trousers and shirt, bathing his deathly pale skin in a more human light and shining off his long golden hair in shades of orange and fuchsia. He was young, so young. Lara was taken aback by his appearance, so unlike that she had imagined of an older man with tanned skin and black robes. His eyes, however, were exactly like she had imagined. Black, hard and mocking.

"Lara Croft," he sighed, his accent distinctly South African, "you're here at last."

Lara didn't answer, just rehandled her gun and fixed a steely gaze down its barrel.

"Please," he continued, "join me in my office."

With that, he turned and began to walk away, slowly and easily, fearlessly. Shots rang out as, without orders, everybody opened fire, but the bullets only passed right through him, creating little concentric circles of ripples as though they were stones falling in water, tangible objects passing through an illusion.

"This way, Lara," his voice echoed in her ears, unheard by anyone else except apparently for Kurtis, who stared in Lara's direction as if it were she who had uttered the words.

The wonderment was broken when Marcus shoved his way down the line to the middle, addressing the group. "Move back out. _Be alert_."

They did as they were told, Lara only because there was nothing else she could do. It was as if Gero wanted her, knew she was coming, awaited her purpose. Rather than instilling fear, Gero had roused her curiosity.

* * *

"Chair," the barmaid said carefully.

"Good! Table," said Bryce, pointing to the table nearest the bar, unoccupied.

"Table," she repeated. "Table." She looked to Bryce for confirmation that her pronunciation was correct.

"Idiot," Hillary enunciated slowly, pointing to Bryce and grinning.

* * *

The team emerged back into the cavern, meeting their comrades reappearing from their own tunnel.

"Dead end, Sir," the leader of the second team said.

"Same here," Marcus replied, looking around suspiciously. "We saw Gero."

"Gero?!"

"Yeah…"

Silence reasserted itself as those present spread out, wandering throughout the area to investigate cautiously, as Lara just stood looking around, not bothering to try and fathom. Clearly Gero was playing a whole different ball game, and until she'd learnt the rules, it was up to him to take the lead. He'd do something soon enough.

"This may not be as easy as I thought," Kurtis said in a low voice, coming to stand beside her and staring around, wary.

"He's just playing with us," Lara replied calmly.

"Cat and mouse, huh?"

"You ought to know," Lara said sweetly, turning and taking a few steps away.

Suddenly the floor beneath her shook violently, a deep rumbling accompanying the movement as Lara stumbled to keep her footing, instinctively bending her knees. Shouts of surprise bounced around the walls and she looked over to find Kurtis fallen to one knee, his palms grazing against the rough floor as he tried to find his feet, clearly shaken by the sudden tremors. Staggering over to him, feeling as if the whole cavern was about to come crashing down around her, she took firm hold of his arm and pulled him up, taking a jarring step back to keep their balance as Kurtis fell against her.

A massive crash followed by the sound of breaking rock and bouncing shards behind them made them gasp as they spun round, to see a huge golden spear tearing up through the floor right next to Marcus, almost piercing his forearm as it slashed through the air, others like it shooting up around the whole cavern at twisted angles only a split second later, each new lance tearing Lara and Kurtis' attention away from the previous one as they held onto each other for balance, too confused to contemplate the danger. Screams and shouts leapt from their team-mates as the spears surrounded each one, dangerously close to their limbs, capturing them in cramped cages from which they could not squeeze or force to escape. A cacophony of cracking rocks and ringing metal heralded the arrival of dozens of the spikes against the entrance into the cavern, only centimetres apart, blocking escape. As quickly as the attack had begun, it stopped, leaving Kurtis and Lara still grasping onto each other, their eyes darting around at the trapped soldiers who struggled and called for help, the two Company prisoners now the only ones left free.

"What the hell?" Kurtis shouted.

Lara pulled herself from his grasp still lingering from the quake and ran towards the nearest cage, pulling and pushing at the metal stakes in an effort to free the one trapped, grunting in exertion as she pitched her entire strength against it, fruitlessly. A warm hand on her shoulder stilled her movements and she turned to look up at Kurtis.

"Leave 'em."

"Leave them? We might need them."

Kurtis chuckled. "Really, Lara. The way things have been going, you don't think they're under orders to kill us? You're supposed to die anyway, but I seriously doubt that Cheney has any intention of letting me get away, and whatever happens I don't think they're going to be anything but trouble for us. I figured we'd probably have to fight our way out of this, now Gero has done us a favour. Accept it."

Lara glanced back at the prisoners, struggling and quietly protesting, most too panicky to bother listening to the conversation. "We're not just walking out of here with the Tip. Gero's seen to that, and if he's as powerful as he seems – "

Kurtis gently took Lara's hand from where it rested on a spear and plucked it off as he spoke, bringing it slowly down to her side. "They and their guns will be absolutely no use."

Grudgingly accepting the logic in his argument, Lara sighed. "All right."

"Ok." Kurtis marched over to where Marcus was held and reached through the bars to fumble around in his pocket, smiling mockingly at the helpless man as he did so. A moment later he fished out the Periapt Tip, tossed it in the air and caught it again triumphantly and, smiling, turned to Lara. "You want a sign of trust? You got it." He sent the Tip sailing through the air and Lara, totally surprised, reacted quickly and reached up, catching it before it could smash to the ground.

She examined it in her hands, turning it over and admiring the way it refracted the available light in patterns of colours and rays, a smaller more delicate version of the Periapt Shards, more beautiful and translucent in its thinner state.

"You're trusting me?" Lara asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

'On the contrary', Kurtis thought, 'I'm begging _you_ to trust _me_, even though I don't deserve it', but that thought would always stay unvoiced. "Here," was his jovial answer, an echo back to the last time they had agreed to take faith. Smiling again, he turned and sauntered off towards one of the tunnels at the back of the cavern. "Come on," he called over his shoulder, "we need to find a way out of here."


	21. Waiting For The Opportune Moment

**I'm back again. :-) I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you enjoy reading it, and I hope you'll click that little review button down there and tell me! ;-) I'm having a really hard time naming these chapters just lately...**

**Lady Lara Croft, as ever, your review was the highlight of my inbox. Hee Hee. Do they still need to kill the cult leader? Maybe. ;-) Don't forget, however, that they still have that pesky little problem of The Company to sort out. And thankyou, for liking my writing style. :-)**

_Waiting For The Opportune Moment_

Trotting over, Lara quickly caught up Kurtis as he strode off into the depths of the cave complex. Now that they had the Tip and they were free from The Company, at least for now, he seemed a lot happier. More confident, more sure of what he was going to do next. Which begged the question…

"Do you have a plan?"

"Of course," Kurtis replied without hesitation.

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"Find a way out, hide the Periapt Tip, fake my own death and continue life as Guilbert Dupuis."

"Fake your own death and become Guilbert Dupuis? Wonderful plan. Brilliant. Fool-proof."

"I speak French," Kurtis said defensively.

"And how many people do you know who have successfully faked their own deaths?"

"Well, _be serious_! How would I know about it if they'd been successful?!"

Walking alongside him, Lara laughed, too lost in the rapport they had to remember how much she disliked him when they didn't have it.

"We should probably be being quiet right about now," said Kurtis, still talking in a normal volume and stomping down the sloping, dusty, dimly lit tunnel they'd entered.

"Probably," said Lara, "but it looks like Gero knows where we are anyway, so what's the point?" She sighed wearily and then stopped as she saw an intersection in the tunnel leading both left and right. "Well, at least they're not _all_ dead ends."

Kurtis peered down the lead-off closest to him, his line of sight hitting a wall as the tunnel veered away. "Do you get the feeling that Gero is engineering these tunnels? The first two we picked were dead ends, forcing us back into the cavern where he ambushed us, then the one we randomly choose after he's decided to let us two stay free – which, by the way, worries me – leads to a tunnel with just the right amount of directions for us to split up and take one each."

Lara looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "I think you're paranoid," she said brightly, and with that turned off and skipped down the eastern passage, leaving Kurtis staring after her.

"Alright! Fine!" He threw up his arms. "You win!" He took off after her, his longer strides quickly catching her up. "But when we find out that Gero is actually Cheney in disguise and this whole thing was a set up from the beginning _and_ I'm right about the tunnels, don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

"Come on, Bryce," said Hillary, grabbing his slightly tipsy friend around the waist and hefting him away from the bar, pulling to wrench Bryce's hands from their grip on the barstool. "Time to go." 

"No!" Bryce wailed.

"Yes."

Hillary succeeded in removing Bryce from the bar and began to carry him away, his drunken charge reaching over the butler's shoulders towards the barmaid that they had befriended, who was smiling after them and waving. "Keiko! I love you!!" Bryce called.

* * *

"Lara…" 

Gero's voice, whispery and quiet, emanated from behind them. Croft and Trent, happily marching down the stone underground corridors, spun round, startled, but there was no-one there.

"Weird," remarked Kurtis. "And how come he let me stay free but doesn't seem remotely interested in having me around?"

Lara didn't reply, peering suspiciously into the gloom barely pushed away by the flickering lanterns pinned to the walls every few feet. She thought she saw a slight movement way back in the darkness, but an imperceptible sound only detectable by the reaction it caused in her made her spin back around again.

Kurtis had heard it too, and he gasped as their eyes fell on the source – Gero, appeared out of nowhere, was standing far away down the other end of the tunnel. Where before there was only darkness, there now stood the mysterious cultist, his own source of illumination, smiling enigmatically and regarding them with a look that left Kurtis cold in trepidation.

Neither of them did anything. Lara wasn't sure why. She and Kurtis just stood there, frozen, as Gero's smile widened almost knowingly, and then he turned and began to glide regally down another intersecting corridor to his left, smiling over his shoulder at them until he had disappeared from view, leading the way, never allowing his prey to catch up or to fall behind.

Lara looked to Kurtis curiously, finding him returning her expression. "I guess we go that way," she said, and set off purposely after the enigma.

Rounding the bend that Gero had disappeared behind, they found themselves ascending considerably steeply, taking long well placed strides and grasping onto whatever handholds on the rocky walls they could find in an effort to negotiate their climb up the crumbling dusty floor of impacted dirt.

Just before it began to level off the gradient increased sharply, and Kurtis, leading, was forced to pull himself bodily up against the slope with the aid of the walls whilst Lara pushed against his back, then accepting his hand to pull her up as she made her own way up to the top. Grasping onto a sharp stone sticking out of the wall to add her own leverage, her hand slipped on cold moisture, and she fell backwards, Kurtis only just managing to put in enough strength to pull her back from the brink and haul her up onto the flat.

"You ok?" he asked, concerned, his hand still wrapped around hers.

"Yes," she breathed, getting her breath back from the sudden adrenaline rush of the expected fall. She looked at the hand that had slipped, expecting to see blood, believing the lubrication that had caused her to lose her grip to be from the stone cutting her palm, but she saw only clear glistening liquid. "Water," she said curiously.

Turning, she bent down to look at the stone and saw it covered in wet, clear ground-filtered water seeping out onto it through the very fabric of the rock. Curious, she reached out to run her dry hand along the wall and felt one long path of sheen, the whole face seemingly weeping. Wary, she straightened and began to back away.

"The whole wall's wet."

"Wet?" asked Kurtis, turning to examine the wall behind them. "But this whole place is dry as a…" His voice trailed off as he found a similar moisture. "It was dry when I pulled myself up."

He and Lara looked at each other, seeking confirmation from the other for their suspicions.

"Do you…hear something?" Lara asked.

"Roaring," Kurtis said, nodding.

"Oh god," said Lara, her voice rising to a shout as she sprung into action, "he's trying to drown us!"

They both scattered back down the slope, barely beginning their descent before the walls where they had been standing only moments before imploded, a torrent of water crashing in from both sides, colliding in the middle and taking chase after them, splashing and falling in a foam of wavebreaks.

"Go!" Kurtis yelled, as their uncontrolled flight broke into a panic, both of them slipping and sliding down the slope, sometimes falling, sometimes scrambling, desperately trying to outrun the water that they knew would be upon them within moments.

Kurtis fell to his knees as he reached the bottom, clambering forwards even as he fought to get back to his feet, before Lara's hand took hold of his shirt and hauled him back upwards as they continued to flee, tearing around the corner and breaking into a flat out run.

There was too long a distance to go before they got back to the cavern, their only hope of escape from a watery grave, but when the first drops of water fell on their backs, being thrown forward from the crashing tidal wave behind them, they knew that they had run out of time. Stopping simultaneously without communication, they both looked back to see the white raging froth bearing down upon them. The next thing Lara knew, Kurtis was throwing her to the ground underneath him and the wave was upon them.

* * *

"So, what do you want to do now?" Bryce asked Hillary, suddenly sober again. They were standing outside the bar, Hillary having managed to extricate Bryce from its clutches, and were now looking around for inspiration as to their next move. 

"Sushi?"

"Sushi is good."

* * *

Lara and Kurtis hadn't even hit the floor when the wave hit, taking hold of them and rushing them along with its flow, turbulent, violent and tidal. 

The lack of time to prepare for the impact and the freezing temperature of the water took their breath away, and their chests burned and muscles cramped as they fought to swim, the current thankfully in their favour.

Within seconds they were at the first intersection they had earlier come to, the flow dividing between the two possible routes and the water dispersing, though not enough to offer any oxygen. Caught in the conflicting currents as the water around them divided left and right, blinded by the turbidity and panicked by their lack of breath, they found themselves disorientated, floundering in place, lost with no time to find their way.

More experienced at swimming underwater, Lara just managed to find enough of her wits to get her bearings in relation to the flows, and quickly deduced the direction of the cavern. Kicking and taking strong strokes, she directed herself back to Kurtis, forcing her eyes to stay open in order to focus on his obscured flailing form. Her hand caught his wrist as his arm struck downwards in an effort to fight the rushing water tossing him like a leaf, her fingers wrapping securely around him. Through the haze of bubbles and dirt rushing across their line of sight, his eyes locked onto hers, and a sharp tug from her as she struck out towards the cavern prompted him to kick out against the water and force himself forwards after her, her hand ever guiding him as he did his best to stay in control against his bursting lungs and the now lone current still sweeping him along.

They suddenly slowed, their bodies jerking as the river opened out into the lake now formed in the cavern and the current died. Only the gentle rushing of the flowing water against their limbs now existed, massaging back the feeling taken away by the cold and panic. Up they fought, speeding towards the surface, desperate for air, the journey seemingly taking minutes when in fact they only travelled feet.

Coughing and spluttering, they broke the surface, noisy lungfuls of air being dragged in, Lara's hand that before guided Kurtis now breaking away from his wrist as she splashed and floundered, clawing back her control against the water as she bobbed once, twice, before finding her equilibrium.

Kurtis was treading water erratically, still panting to recovery, when she shook the water off her eyelashes and looked over to him, gasping herself.

"Alright?" she asked, coughing.

"Yeah," he said breathlessly, eyes darting around as he tried to process all that had just happened. "Yeah, I'm ok."

Lara nodded her acknowledgement, her own eyes searching for a way out of the water. "Come on," she panted as her gaze fell on the ledge high up on the wall, now only a couple of feet above the water's surface. She struck out sideways and glided over to the side, Kurtis following close behind.

Wordlessly, he helped her out, hands grasping her waist and lifting her as she reached up and pulled against the ledge. The disturbed surface, still settling as the last of the water that was now nothing more than a stream in the tunnels, levelled itself off to equilibrium, bobbed up and down against his chin, covering and then uncovering his mouth, small mouthfuls finding their way in as he continued to breathe deeply, making him cough wheezily and sending a nasty feeling of nausea over him.

Lara lay down on the ledge and reached down to pull him up, and then they both rested there, Kurtis on his hands and knees fighting back his breath, Lara on her side wiping her wet hair out of her face and rubbing her eyes.

"That…was not fun," Kurtis got out, dropping over into a sitting position and wringing out his T-shirt.

"For me," said Lara, "not so different."

The water stilled as she watched, the surface sitting peacefully, only moments before so rapid and turbid, now as quiet as death.

"Lara," Kurtis began.

"Yes?" She looked up, waiting for him to continue.

"I, er...I think that I..." He got no further, as he was interrupted by a look of horror crossing Lara's face as some thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Oh my god," she cried, "the soldiers!" Scrambling back on her feet, she dove in before she had even stood up, plummeting fast down into the water, sight now possible in the deceptively peaceful water. Turning left and right, she looked everywhere for the trapped Company agents, drowning in their cages at the bottom of the lake, but there was nothing and no-one there, only the lances that blocked the entrance any proof that their earlier encounter with Gero had occurred.

"Lara?" Kurtis called, peering down into the dark water. As if in answer the surface of the water smashed apart, Lara shooting back up to the surface.

"They're not there!" she shouted to him. "Nothing's there!"

"They're gone?" he said, reaching out to help her back onto the ledge.

"Them, the spikes, the damage done when the spikes erupted – it's all gone," she clarified, clambering up.

"The entrance?" he asked hopefully.

"Still blocked."

Kurtis nodded, receiving the answer he had expected to hear. "Ok, then. Guess we go through this here doorway."

"I guess we do."

* * *

The buffet carousel in the twenty-four hour sushi bar trundled around and around quite happily, baring its wears to those seated around the circular bar, plucking whatever took their fancy as it passed by them. 

Hillary's hand hovered discerningly as the covered plates of Japanese cuisine sailed past.

"Just pick something that looks interesting," said Bryce, already tucking in to some kind of crab recipe, "we don't have all night."

"Number forty-two is a good choice," a Japanese accented voice said, and Hillary turned to find a young native sitting next to him. "Or number fifty-seven if you're not used to foreign foods."

"Oh – thankyou," Hillary said, a little taken aback. He reached out and, having missed forty-two, took fifty-seven.

"You are here on holiday?" the native asked. He was a young man, no more than twenty five, picking over his own dish expertly with chopsticks and apparently in the company of a similar man, who was smiling politely at Hillary.

"Um – business. But we have a few days to ourselves."

"Kyoto is very nice, if you have time to go," the other man said.

"Thank you. I'll – bear that in mind. You speak excellent English, are you language students?"

"Finance," said the first, and then he gestured to his friend with his chopsticks. "Akira here studies video game production, but we both did exchange programs to England."

"Really?" Hillary asked interestedly, turning away from Bryce to leave him shovelling food into his mouth, "Which universities?"

"Manchester and London," Akira answered. "We both attend the University of Tokyo."

"Very prestigious, isn't it?" Hillary asked.

"Yes," the first student said. "It's very hard to get into. Your entire academic record is considered. My name, by the way, is Takeshi." He held out his hand and Akira followed suit, and the three men shook.

Akira reached into his pocket and brought out a leaflet, holding it out to Hillary. "If you're looking for fun things to do in Tokyo whilst you have spare time, there's a game show that's looking for contestants for tomorrow."

* * *

The doorway led a few feet in almost total darkness before opening out into a tiny passageway, narrow with a low ceiling, filled with shadows but lit dimly by intermittent electric lights set along the walls. Similar passageways led off in various directions, criss-crossing in junctions in every direction that Lara and Kurtis could see, a positive labyrinth of paths. 

They took a few cautious steps forwards, startled to hear Gero's voice behind them once again. This time he stood in the light only a short distance from them, and his voice was clear and loud.

"Glad you made it."

"Really?" asked Kurtis sarcastically. Gero laughed.

"Oh, you think I was trying to kill you? Don't be silly, if I'd wanted to do that I would have done it a lot sooner, and a lot more certainly than by a possible drowning."

"So what was your point, exactly?" Lara asked, shifting her weight to one leg and folding her arms impatiently. The hand hidden under her other arm fingered the Periapt Tip through the fabric of her pocket, but she wasn't ready to die yet and she certainly didn't accept that there was no other way to kill Gero.

"Why, to allow you access to my 'inner sanctum' of course," he said, emphasising the turn of phrase for their new surroundings with a tone of voice that suggested he was mildly joking. "These corridors are the heart of my operation, I have to keep the minions out of here; really, filling the meeting hall with water is the only way to get mortals up here."

"You half drowned us just so we could climb onto that ledge out there? What, you couldn't magic up a ladder?" Kurtis was still cuttingly sarcastic and definitely annoyed.

Gero smirked. "Well I can't say that there wasn't a small element of amusement in it for me. But, you're here now. That's all that matters. So, on with the show." He smiled amiably and then, a sudden expression of maliciousness forming on his features, swept his hand quickly over Lara and Kurtis' faces.

In an instant everything went black, and when perception returned only a split-second later, Gero was gone and Lara and Kurtis found themselves in different corridors within the labyrinth, alone, disorientated, and completely surprised.


	22. In The Deepest Recesses Of The Soul

**Whoa, I surprised even myself with this chapter - gosh, I can be evil sometimes. ;-)**

**harshlightofday - (Linzi, right?) - If you hate cliffhangers, you're going to go nuts at the end of this chapter. HeeHee. And, yep, I _really_ like annoying my characters. LOL  
Lady Lara Croft - I'm glad you liked it! I figured it was time for some out and out action.  
Thanks to both of you for your reviews. :-)**

**With regards to this chapter - the Liz Hurley reference is aimed at the 2000 version of Bedazzled. Just thought I'd clarify that so you didn't think I'd gone totally loony. And no, this isn't the end. There's a _lot_ more to come yet. **

_In The Deepest Recesses Of The Soul_

"Gero!" Lara snapped his name, spinning around to take in her new surroundings angrily, suddenly sick of his games. "Gero! Gero, I know you can hear me, come out and fight me!"

There was no answer, only deathly silence and a chill in the air. It was so, so quiet. Lara sighed in frustration and, picking a random direction down the passage she had been transported to, stalked off.

* * *

"Whoa!" was Kurtis' initial reaction to his change of location. He too spun around, wondering what had just happened, looking for Lara or Gero or anybody. There was nobody. Just Kurtis and his shadow and no sound but silence, alone in another passageway carved deep into the rock.

"Lara?" he called, but there was no reply. "Lara," he muttered to himself tetchily, suddenly deciding that if it wasn't for her then he wouldn't be in this mess, and he too began to walk.

* * *

"'Takeshi's Castle', eh?" Bryce sounded intrigued as he examined the leaflet that Akira had given Hillary in the sushi bar. It was all in Japanese, so he didn't understand a word of it, but Akira and Takeshi were still with them and had kindly translated. "Nothing to do with you, then, Takeshi?"

Takeshi laughed. "No, my name is very common. The show is very popular, lots of people will see you on the television."

"And it's basically one hundred people getting slowly whittled down to just a few as they all try to do strange, physically demanding games?" Hillary sounded apprehensive, to say the least.

"Sounds fun," said Bryce, handing the leaflet back to Akira. "We're in."

"We are?" Hillary squeaked.

"We're on holiday, and dammit, we're going to have fun. Akira, Takeshi – we'll meet you at the sign-up stand as soon as it opens tomorrow. Right now, we're going to go back to our hotel and get some sleep."

Hillary smiled politely at their new acquaintances and then turned to follow Bryce, groaning. "I can foresee disaster, Bryce."

"Nonsense. It'll be fun."

* * *

The labyrinth was never-ending. Twist after turn after dead end, going round in circles, Lara was getting nowhere, finding only deserted rooms with locked doors, useless equipment or yet more corridors branching off. The glaring electric lights at regular intervals bathing the area in a harsh yellow and the almost constant presence of doors gave Lara no reason to feel wary. There was obviously no one around except for Gero, and she was too angry with him to feel frightened. Above the sound of her angry footsteps crunching violently along the stony floors as she fought to navigate her way out, Lara thought she heard movement, and she immediately came to a dead stop, whipping her gun out of its holster and turning to scan the area with its barrel. Nothing and no one. Again. She sighed in frustration and let her weapon fall to her side, hoping that Kurtis was faring better than she was.

* * *

His Boron X raised ready to take out anything that might appear in front of him, Kurtis trod carefully and quietly along his own chosen path in the maze of tunnels, finding little to use as landmarks by which to track his progress. The area that he had been transported to was dark, the electric lights being fewer and some turned off, the doorways a rare occurrence. The silence and the shadows were too clichéd to make him feel anything other than intensely cautious.

He suddenly became aware of a presence behind him, and he spun immediately to fix his aim.

"Lara!" She stood there before him, standing with her weight offset to one leg and her hand leant casually against the wall, a satirical smile on her face that widened as he let out a long sigh and let his gun drop, raising his eyes skywards in relief. "Thank god it's you," he drawled.

"Kurtis, darling!" she said, returning her weight to her feet and taking a few strutting steps towards him, her voice cracking in mock glee as she spoke. "So good to see you!"

"O…k…" Kurtis regarded her with slight suspicion, a little taken aback by the uncharacteristic show of spoof sass, especially at such a seemingly inappropriate time. "You, er, find Gero?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's around here somewhere." She reached the point in front of him where normally one would stop to continue a conversation face to face at a comfortable distance, but she continued towards him and Kurtis found himself taking a step back towards the wall, completely bemused by her bizarre behaviour. "Although," she continued, backing him up against the wall and placing her hands on his collarbones, "I don't think there's much use in looking for him if he doesn't want to be found. He'll come out when he's ready, and when he does, we'll kill him, simple as that."

"Or not," said Kurtis incredulously. "Only way to kill him is the Tip? And that means you dying? Remember?"

"Alright, fine. We'll find a way to subdue him and escape. Doesn't matter! We'll take things as they come." Her hands went up to his shoulders and slid down his arms, and he found himself pressing back into the wall as far as he could go, absolutely terrified by her apparent interest.

"Well, we're not going to be able to subdue him long enough to escape these caves if we can't even get ourselves out of these tunnels, so I think we should be getting along, don't –" Kurtis said nervously, trying to break free before she interrupted both his words and his actions, pushing him back to the wall hard as she spoke.

"Kurtis, you're so nervous!" Her hands suddenly returned to their previous gentleness, and one slid down his side as the other rested on his chest, her body moving in even closer. "You shouldn't deny yourself anything."

A sudden wave of something approaching terror swept over him, and he forced himself out of her grasp and deftly stepped out into the middle of the tunnel as she moved in to – he presumed – kiss him. "What are you, now? Liz Hurley?! What are you doing?!"

"Kurtis! Relax! Calm down!" She moved towards him again but this time he was ready and he grabbed both of her wrists and pushed her away, leaving her stumbling back a couple of steps to keep her balance. With his own hands now free, he quickly took his gun up again and aimed at Lara, where she was now leaning against the wall looking vaguely annoyed.

"Karel?" he said, more confused and grasping at the only solution he could think of at that moment than worried that the enemy had returned.

Lara sighed and started fingering her lower lip in a show of checking her makeup, but was obviously fully aware that she was in fact just emphasising her mouth. "Do I look like Karel?" she asked, a hint of boredom in her voice.

* * *

Elsewhere in the tunnels, in an area bathed in harsh yellow light and lined with doors, another Lara found yet another possible exit locked.

"Damn," she swore to herself, aiming a light punch at the door in frustration. Sighing heavily, she turned away and plodded the few metres to the next door. Listening carefully before trying to open it, she heard a faint humming. She smiled to herself, recognising the sound immediately as one familiar to her from Bryce's hang-outs – it was electrical equipment running. Raising her gun ready to aim and fire, she turned the handle and smiled again as the door clicked and opened under her duress, revealing an empty room populated only by several computer workstations, a couple of servers, a few printers, and some filing cabinets. A base of operations. Perfect.

* * *

In answer to Lara's question, Kurtis' eyes travelled down her form and then back up again, settling on those lips she was so enthusiastically pouting.

He had to admit, "Well, no." The fact that she hadn't tried to kill him pretty much ruled in her favour as well. The Boron X dropped once again and he took a lazy few steps towards her. "So just what is going on with you, Lara?"

He hadn't realised he'd got so close until her hands darted out and latched onto his flak jacket, spinning him around to the wall and holding him there, trapped once again. He swallowed nervously and looked down at Lara with just his eyes, head held firmly back against the hard stone behind him as far as he could make it go.

"Just taking advantage of a dark, deserted, underground tunnel," she quipped, and then before he knew what was happening, she was kissing him.

* * *

"Bryce would have a heart attack if he saw the IT security in this place," the other Lara said dryly to herself as she waggled a mouse on the nearest computer to remove the screensaver and found the workstation open and ready for viewing, no password or locked keyboard to challenge her.

She sat down at the desk and began to glance through the applications running. The computer wasn't Windows based, and none of the command lines active were ones she recognised, but Bryce had taught her enough to get by. She began to search through the files and programs on the computer, thankfully only a few to look through. It wasn't long before she stumbled across some sort of text file, a schedule with links over to other files detailing plans, operations, missions, surveillance. Her eyes flew over the documents as she opened them, widening in realisation as it slowly became clear the scope of the activities the cult was up to. Cheney wasn't exaggerating when he'd said that the Rebirth Cult was a threat.

The things they were planning…sacrificing herself or not, Gero _had_ to go.

* * *

He knew that she was strong, but Kurtis was surprised at the effort it took to push Lara away. After what seemed like an age, he managed it, and stood with Lara's hands still gripped onto his jacket, breathing heavily in shock and staring at her with wide eyes clouded in confusion.

He wanted to ask her what the hell was going on, who was she really, if this was some sort of ruse would she let him in on it, but he couldn't quite get the words out. His turmoil didn't last for long, however, as the irrational part of his brain soon won out, he glared at his common sense before tossing it out of the window, and then he kissed her back.

* * *

Tenacious and ready for war, the other Lara stalked down the stone corridors following a route she'd planned from a map of the cult complex stored on the computer. Her head was bowed and her eyes raised menacingly as her shoulders, held steady and tense, swung slightly with her walk. Nothing and no-one was going to stop her from killing Gero. If she died, then she died, there was nothing she could do about it, but at least it would be with redemption for her darker deeds after Egypt, and at least she wouldn't be left alive feeling weak and guilty for not doing everything she could. The Periapt Tip was held tightly in her right hand, her strong fingers flexing against it rhythmically, feeling its power and drawing the strength to stay focused from its cold, hard crystal – cold and hard as she needed to be.

* * *

Kurtis' Lara broke the kiss and pulled back, smiling evilly to herself as she opened her eyes to find his still closed, his head still bowed towards her, stunned. Her hands found his and she pulled, tugging him away from the wall. His eyes slid open as the movement roused him and, smiling mischievously, Lara began to lead him away down the tunnel, walking backwards.

* * *

The complex was massive, but Lara at last reached her goal – Gero's throne room. Deep within the maze of tunnels and caves, it was in the area accessible only by the ledge within the first cavern they had entered, the area off limits to the lesser members of Gero's following, and a pain to navigate. With badly signposted directions and an area only accessible through a near fatal tidal wave, Lara thought wryly to herself, Gero clearly doesn't trust anyone except himself, which is too bad for him, because now there's no-one around to save him from me. Her thoughts were reflected in a small smile, and she flattened herself against the wall of the entrance tunnel and peered around the corner into the cavern.

Atmospheric flickering torches lined the walls, stone benches for the higher members of the cult strung out along the length of the cavern and running parallel was one long deep red carpet, all drawing one's eye to the far end of the room where there sat an elaborate throne flanked by tall free standing candle sticks of black iron. Standing in front of it, leaning down towards somebody sat in it, was a tall figure dressed in combat fatigues much like her own, and her first thought was that it was one of the other soldiers, somehow escaped, but a movement in the corner of her eye took her attention to a wrought iron cage in the opposite corner of the room that she had missed on her first glance, and there inside, chained to the walls, were the remaining members of her team.

She strained her eyes to make out their faces against the distance and the shadows and assured herself that, yes, they were all alive and well and definitely all held prisoner. So the figure by the throne was…

The figure turned to a small pedestal to the left of the throne and reached down to pick up whatever lay there, and Lara gasped as she realised that the figure – was her. Desperate to know what was going on, her eyes darted back to the throne and this time her breath stuck in her throat as she saw Kurtis, lounging comfortably with his eyes fixed firmly on the other her, an almost dazed look on his face. He blinked as he noticed what it was the impostor had picked up and his countenance cleared as he suddenly became wary.

"What's that for?" Lara heard him ask.

"Oh, nothing," her own, stolen voice replied and then Lara watched in horror as her doppelganger began to move around to the back of the throne, its free hand trailing languidly over Kurtis' cheek, its reassuring smile distracting him from realising what was all too clear to the real Lara – the object from the pedestal was a ceremonial knife, and it was heading right for Kurtis' throat.

All that Lara knew about Gero, her previous encounters with him, his words, his voice, everything flooded back to Lara in a jarring montage of memories that slammed into her mind and then, only a split second later, disappeared to be replaced by one singular thought.

"Gero!" she cried out, leaping out of the shadows and into the room, standing before him with that same determined stance that had taken over her body on her journey to the throne room. The false Lara stopped suddenly, the knife hovering only inches above Kurtis' jugular, and her victim, suddenly freeing himself from the almost dream like state he had apparently been in, locked his eyes onto the real Lara's, everything suddenly becoming clear to him.

His breath caught in his throat and the hand hovering in front of him with the knife in its grasp morphed quickly and easily from one of pale skin, manicured nails and long slim fingers into one more masculine, with rougher skin adorned with golden rings. Kurtis reacted without thinking and shoved the hand away, freeing himself from the threat of the knife, and leapt out of the chair and onto his feet, dashing across the room towards Lara and stopping by her side, spinning to face Gero, now standing behind the throne unmasked and smiling in amusement.

"Gero," Kurtis shouted, almost in disbelief. "Why the hell did you –" His question was cut off as he realised that, at least on some level, he had kissed Gero. "Oh my god!" he yelled, covering his hand with his mouth as if he was going to be sick and bending over, one arm across his stomach. "Oh, that is – oh god!"

Lara raised an eyebrow and took in Kurtis' actions with her peripheral vision, keeping her focus locked on Gero. "What?" she asked, succinctly.

"He seduced me!" Kurtis pointed accusingly, still looking horrified.

"Well, in my opinion, it was one of the weaker performances of my career," Gero said, "it's hardly my fault that you were desperate."

"What the hell did you wanna do that for?!" Kurtis demanded, apparently more bothered that Gero had pretended to be Lara than about the fact that he had been about to kill him.

"Well, forgive me for disgusting you, but it seemed like the best way to subdue you enough to be able to slit your throat – terribly sorry for thinking tactics," he replied sarcastically. "Besides, I was in Lara's form."

"In Lara's form," Kurtis repeated with accentation, "not _actually_ Lara!"

Lara watched the interchange with quiet intrigue and a hint of amusement,but decided enough was enough and spoke up before the spat could continue further. "If you wanted to kill him, Gero, why didn't you just cage him with the others?"

"Like this?" Before anyone could move, the same golden spears that had trapped the soldiers in the cavern shot up through the floor around Kurtis, caging him in, though with a lot more room to move than the others had been granted. He darted forward to the bars, grabbing them in fury and desperately trying to prise them apart, but they wouldn't move. Lara only stared at the spikes, taken aback, as Gero calmly began to walk towards her, knife still in hand. "Because I didn't want to kill him. I just wanted his blood. By taking the blood of a Lux Veritatis with this knife, in this blessed room, and being given the blood willingly, I can drink and become immune to the effects of the Periapt Tip. There's _always_ a get-out clause when it comes to the Knights Templar, they were very cautious people. And you'd be surprised just how much you can get someone to give you willingly when they worship you."

"I doubt that Kurtis would have willingly allowed you to cut his throat just because you were pretending to be me," Lara said, her eyes now meeting Gero's where he stood only two feet in front of her.

"Actually, I think he was rather too busy living the dream to worry about what I was actually doing."

Lara laughed, amused by Gero's assessment of the situation. "I'm going to kill you, Gero," she said.

"Oh Lara, if I believed that, I'd have locked you up with all the others. I know what you've been through, Lara. I know that your outlook has changed. I know what you feel, what you think, deep underneath all the lies you tell yourself to convince yourself that Egypt doesn't affect you anymore. You know as well as I do that a woman such as yourself is more than capable of taking anything and anyone she wants, and you know as well as I do that you're tired of doing the right, honourable thing. Join me, Lara, and I'll give you anything and everything you've always dreamed of. Join me, and be true to yourself."

Lara's head shook and she braced one foot behind her to firm her position as she raised the Periapt Tip to level with Gero's heart and fixed him with a strong, closed off gaze. "I don't want your power."

Gero laughed. "Lara, _everybody_ wants my power."

"Well I don't."

Kurtis only looked on in horror from his cage, powerless to do anything and knowing all too well that Gero was right. Lara _was_ tired of doing the right thing. He had always seen it in her eyes and he had always heard it in her voice, and by god, if he hadn't made it so much worse by treating her the way he had.

"Prove it, Lara," Gero whispered, standing before her open and vulnerable to attack.

Lara's eyes began to water and her lip almost quivered as she spoke, her voice shaking, "You intend to kill thousands of innocent Americans and make it look like China and Britain did it. You intend to kill thousands of innocent Chinese and Britons and make it look like America did it. And whilst they're destroying each other in retaliation, you intend to attack those countries who depend on the superpowers for protection and assert your own rule over them, and then use their resources to crush the until-then unbeatable leading nations. You're planning to assassinate leaders to leave their territories in turmoil and vulnerable and you've already started putting in place measures to ensure that once you have a foothold you'll be able to wipe out any who don't convert to your faith. I can't let you live."

"Prove to me that I'm wrong and do the right thing," Gero said again, as if Lara had never spoken. "Prove to me that you don't want the power that you know you so rightfully deserve, and sacrifice your life to take mine."

Lara faltered, a tear escaping down her cheek, but she sucked in a breath and drew her arm back to strike.

She expected first the initial shock of impact as the Periapt Tip plunged into Gero's body. Then she expected pain or lightening or something as it drained her life away in order to take Gero's, but none of it came.

It took her a moment to register Kurtis' fraught voice screaming her name, a moment longer to realise that the Tip had been torn from out of her hand, and then an increment of time so small that it didn't exist, to begin to see again, and to see that the Tip was moving those small inches through the air towards Gero's heart with nothing guiding it other than that one unseen force that she had only seen in action since she had met Kurtis.

In the split second it took for the Tip to reach home, Lara had spun in slow motion to see Kurtis' gaze firmly fixed on the Periapt Tip as he concentrated on its control, and she had spun back in time to see the crystal shard drive home into Gero's body, blood seeping out into his clothes, and then his body being shoved backwards by another unknown force that sent him flying backwards through the air. No sooner had he begun to move then Lara's eyes were back on Kurtis, and time returned to normal as he too was flung back towards the bars of his cage, where he bounced against them and fell, lifeless, to the floor.

It was then that Lara realised she was screaming.


	23. No Man's Land

**Ok, here it is, the answer to that evil cliff hanger I left y'all on last week. Hee Hee. I hope you like.**

**Teef - Oooh a new reviewer, and one who likes the story at that! Thankyou!  
Lady Lara Croft and harshlightofday - Thankyou again! I'm really glad you both found the last chapter funny - I wanted it to be light to alleviate the utter depression of it, but humour isn't really my thing when it comes to writing, so I'm happy it seemed to work!**

**Just a few notes to clarify things in this chapter -  
We previously found out that Kurtis was planning on stealing the Periapt Tip to take it under his protection, and covering his tracks by framing Lara for it. He felt that Cheney couldn't be trusted with it, but when he found out what Gero was up to, and saw that Lara was willing to sacrifice herself to the Tip to kill Gero, he took her place.  
In Home 2: Visit, we found out that Bryce has been secretly making a video game based on Lara's adventures that's suspiciously like our Tomb Raider.  
Australian degrees, as far as I can tell from my research, are classified by Pass, Credit, Distinction or High Distinction, so a Pass isn't really that great.  
The large block of italics signifies memory, and I have nothing to do with Nintendo, and am making no profit from the blatent borrowing of their name. **

**Enough black bold rambling, on with the show...**

_No Man's Land_

Thinking back, Lara couldn't remember anything after that. She just found herself there, standing in a corridor with her back to an exterior doorway, reeling slightly as though she'd been pushed into the building, with people all around her running and shouting, some in fatigues, others in normal clothing, a few in medical uniforms.

The noises suddenly started registering in her mind as words – medical terms of blood pressure, heart rate… A gurney was shoved clattering into the building and was sped off past her down a corridor, the figure on it obscured by an entourage of doctors and nurses all shouting and talking over each other and rushing the patient away.

A few soldiers were led after the gurney at slower paces, some limping, others clutching their sides or shoulders or arms, one clasping his hand over his waist, blood seeping through his fingers. The sight of others being injured roused a far away sense of pain in Lara and she realised groggily that her upper left arm was cut quite deeply, small rivulets of blood trailing their way towards her elbow.

The whole corridor bustled with activity around her but it all seemed so far away, like it wasn't happening to her, or it was a dream. With surprise she realised someone was standing at her side and calling her name, and she looked up to see Cheney frowning with slight concern, speaking to her.

"Lara?"

She frowned, trying to remember coming back to the headquarters in England, trying to understand what was going on, but it was so fuzzy and she couldn't quite grasp anything.

"She's in shock!" she heard Cheney call, looking away from her to somewhere else, and then an arm wrapped around her shoulders made her look in the opposite direction, surprised to see a nurse on the other side of her, seemingly appeared out of nowhere and looking at her with the same concern. A slight push on her shoulders forced her to take a stumbling step forward, and, numb, she allowed herself to be led away.

* * *

She awoke sometime later to find herself in bed, crisp white sheets and a rough blue blanket tightly tucked in around her, the beep of medical equipment and lowered voices of people quietly bustling around rousing her gently. Blinking away the sleep, she pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked around, finding herself in some sort of medical bay or infirmary. Her upper arm was now bandaged cleanly and she'd been stripped down to just her T-shirt and fatigue trousers.

The memories lost in confusion and trauma after the day's horrific events were back now, washing over her as she lay motionless in their tide, numb.

_"Kurtis!!" Dashing forwards to the makeshift cage, the spikes amazingly crumbling away in her hands as if eaten by decades of rust as she went to wrench them apart._

"_Kurtis!" His limp body heavy and cumbersome as she hooked her elbows under his arms and dragged him out into the middle of the room._

"_Take point!" Marcus' shouted orders to a few of his men as they appeared at her side, their own cage having decayed similarly now that Gero was dead, two of them lifting Kurtis bodily._

"_Go go go!" Marcus shouting again as the whole team scattered through the tunnels with Kurtis, following Lara's lead as she prayed she could remember the map she had only glanced at._

"_Return fire!!" A few wayward cult members, suddenly inexplicably present in the outer reaches of the tunnels, firing with handguns or attacking with clubs and knives, and falling and dying as the Company's superior firepower took them down easily as they continued to run._

_A wordless scream of hatred from Lara as she viciously tore at the decomposing bars blocking their only exit from the cult base._

"_Take off, now! Medical emergency!" The pilots of their plane dashing back to the cockpit as the medic of the team hurriedly retrieved a portable defibrillator whilst another checked for vitals and then began to try manually to restart the martyr's heart._

"_Base 4, come in base 4!" Another soldier on the radio, transmitting ahead to request preparation for their imminent arrival at the nearest Company base, hoping to god that there was reason to worry as he watched the medics working tirelessly to revive their colleague._

"_Got a pulse!" That one heart stopping moment as Lara waited with baited breath to see if the beat would take hold or not, and that gush of relief as the medic fell back to his heels and announced ecstatically that the patient was back, at least for now._

"_Move, move, move!" The soldiers all moving together in practised efficiency to offload Kurtis before the plane had barely touched the runway, running him across the tarmac towards the waiting medical team who pounced on him like vultures to a meal._

_And through it all, Lara a useless bystander, swept along with the tide as the very people who in all probability were meant to kill them had put their humanity before their orders in order to save her partner as she stood incapable of doing anything other than stare and choke back a sob._

A kindly smiling nurse appeared at Lara's side, shaking her out of her reverie. Startled, she looked up and then asked, almost afraid of the answer, "Kurtis?"

"He's fine," the nurse replied, smiling warmly and nodding. "Very weak, but fine."

Lara laughed in relief, shaking her head and grinning to herself. "Can I see him?"

"In a minute. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Lara replied, nodding earnestly. "A little thirsty, maybe."

The nurse smiled warmly and then turned away. Reaching out, she swept back the privacy curtain by Lara's bed to reveal Kurtis, looking somewhat the worse for wear and surrounded by monitoring equipment, lying asleep in the next bed. Her heels clicked noisily as she hurried off to fetch some water for Lara, who smiled again as she padded over to her friend's bed, seating herself quietly in the adjacent chair.

"Go away," said Kurtis, feigning sleep.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're bad for my health, leave me be."

"Tsk."

"Tsk yourself! Go away!"

"Make me."

"Can't be bothered. Feel like hell."

"Then you're just going to have to put up with me, aren't you?"

"Hmph."

Lara chuckled and then leant back in the chair, accepting the water from the nurse who quickly excused herself again. There was silence for a few moments and then, deciding to break it, Lara said in mock offence, "What do you mean I'm bad for your health?"

"You chase me through the Louvre, I get knocked out. You let out the Proto-Nephilim, I get attacked. You send me after the third Shard, I get knocked out and attacked and then stabbed. You try and commit suicide, I end up dying. Are we seeing a pattern here?"

"I think you're paranoid," Lara said dryly.

"Go away," Kurtis repeated. Well, at least he still had his sense of humour.

There was silence a while longer before, still pretending to be angry with her as he did his best to sound uninterested, Kurtis asked, "You ok?"

"I'm fine," said Lara, nodding.

"What happened to your arm?"

"I'm not sure. Don't really remember. We got attacked by some cult members on the way out, it probably happened then. It's all a bit of a blur."

"Oh."

More silence.

"Apparently, apart from the whole having my heart restarted thing, I'm absolutely fine," Kurtis began, conversationally.

"Good. Good."

"The doctors think the Tip quite literally drained the life out of me. Didn't actually do any damage apart from killing me, but of course that's no big obstacle for modern medicine. Probably helped that Gero wasn't actually a god per se."

"Good to hear."

"Yeah, I thought so."

Silence yet again.

"So you wanna watch some TV?"

"Sounds good," Lara replied before Kurtis had even finished speaking, both of them jumping at the chance to do something other than talk, neither of them showing their concern for the other.

* * *

Bryce stepped out of his hotel room to a waiting Hillary and groaned. "How much sleep have we _not_ had?" He turned to lock the room behind him.

"Well," said Hillary, leaning against the wall and rubbing his hands over his face tiredly, "you wanted to go on this gameshow."

"And as the responsible adult here, you failed in your duty to talk some sense into me." Bryce hefted his backpack further onto his shoulder and then said, "Come on," leading the way out of the hotel to meet Akira and Takeshi and sign up for a whole mess of physical activities that probably required a good night's sleep beforehand.

* * *

A nurse arrived with their dinners and Kurtis turned down the volume on the TV before painfully pulling himself up to a sitting position so that he could eat. Everything ached, everything hurt, and right now he was really wishing he wasn't such a nice person, because at least then he wouldn't be sacrificing his life only to be resurrected to one of hospital food, splitting headaches and everyone giving him grateful, concerned glances. He also might have a clue where he was.

"Lara – where exactly are we? Are we back in London?"

"No, we're at a Company base near Las Vegas, it was the closest one to our position and you needed care."

"Still in America?" He thought for a moment and then said, "You know, that's actually kinda obvious from the fact that I was just watching Showtime."

"So," said Lara, taking a casual bite of mashed potato as if she wasn't about to ask something deep and meaningful, which he knew she damn well was, and he could well do without it at that particular moment in time, "why did you do it?"

Kurtis sighed, hesitating in his movement to take a bite of pork and staring down towards his plate. "Because…it was the right thing to do."

"I thought you'd decided the right thing was to steal the Tip and hide it away under your protection." Lara said quietly.

Kurtis laughed, a hint of bitterness in the sound. "That's probably more of a right thing than what I did, but there you go."

"What do you mean?"

He looked up then, deciding he at least owed her some eye contact. "The Tip…it needs me. I'm the last of its protectors, and I should look after it. Frankly, in the big picture, throwing you to the lions in order to protect the power of the Tip is probably the better thing, but when it comes down to it, the little details tend to seem pretty important."

Lara poked at some green beans with her fork, staring at her plate and pouting slightly. Then she looked up through her eyelashes and said, "You'd rather let the Tip fall to Cheney than see me die?"

"I knew you'd look after it – figure something out, destroy it, I don't know."

His words had apparently upset her because, sighing heavily, she swung her legs off the side of the bed where they were resting and made to stand up, saying, "I should go."

"Lara…" Kurtis said loudly, dropping his knife and fork to the tray and stopping her in her tracks. "I…it's all grey, isn't it? Fuzzy. Right and wrong…to begin with I was the bad guy, then I turned good, but in doing that I was being bad because I was putting you ahead of my heritage…there is no absolute." Lara, sufficiently intrigued by his words, sat back down, and he continued on.

"My father always used to tell me that there are no good guys and no bad guys. There are only people doing what they believe is right. The only thing that makes them good or bad is how people perceive them based on the evidence that they see. Take Cheney, for instance – from the things I've seen in this place, the guy's evil, but ultimately what he's doing, it's good stuff. Gero – totally crazy, whacked out guy, bent on world domination and genocide, but from his perspective, he was probably doing the world a favour.

"The people who fight the fight – there are no sides. The leader of the Order once told me, 'If history recorded our means as well as our ends, there would be a lot more evil to recount. To do good, one must fight, and to fight is to do evil. The trenches are empty, and the factions are undefined. There are only the soldiers standing side by side in No Man's Land, fighting for their beliefs, the blood that they spill hidden against the petals of the poppies, only the results visible to those who would judge.'"

Lara's head bowed as she took in Kurtis' words, and then she nodded slowly. "A wise man, your leader," she said, smiling somewhat forlornly. Then, leaving the rest of her dinner, she stood and walked away.

* * *

Bryce's ears, ever honed to anything technological, picked out one singular word from the cacophony of unintelligible Japanese being thrown around by the dozens of people in Tokyo that day to sign up for the newest edition of that slightly eccentric gameshow, Takeshi's Castle. "Nintendo."

Bryce's head snapped up from where he had been filling in the application form with the help of a translator there to ease the transition for the many tourists joining in the fun, and stared over to his left at the group of men in full business attire introducing themselves to the Team Admissions desk.

"Did he just say, 'Nintendo'?" Bryce said to the translator.

"I think he said they were a team from there, yes," the translator, a young Australian language student on his holiday work experience placement, said. "I'm not really sure – I'm only a second year student and to be honest I'm only on course for a pass."

"Well now's your time to practise towards a credit," Bryce said calculatingly, never taking his eyes off the businessmen as he grabbed the student's arm and hauled him away from his desk, "let's go and say hello."

"Bryce! What are you doing?" Hillary demanded, realising that Bryce was off on a tangent again and darting after him, but before he could receive an answer they had attracted the attention of the Nintendo executives, and were now being regarded curiously.

"Hello!" Bryce began, grinning and holding out his hand to shake that of the team leader, "I have a game demo that I think you might be very interested in seeing." The student just stood there, looking terrified, so Bryce, still grinning at his target, elbowed him in the ribs, prompting a broken, stuttered stream of Japanese in a bad accent as he began to translate.

The businessman, smiling politely, said something in return and began to turn away. "He says you'll have to go through the official channels. I think," the student said.

"You think?" said Bryce, before darting over to stand in front of the executive once more. "Please, Sir, you know as well as I do that no-one will listen to me!"

Sighing irritatedly, the businessman looked to the Australian for a translation and, eventually working out what was being said to him, decided to end the meeting nice and quickly. "Tell him," he said to the student in Japanese, "that if he wins Takeshi's Castle, I'll tell my secretary to set up a meeting for him."

* * *

Lara casually walked over to Cheney, who was standing on a balcony looking down on a team that had just returned from a mission that had left them bloody, broken, dirty and one man down. Staggering towards the medical area, held up by each other's arms, or being rushed off on gurneys, the team limped back in from what looked to Lara like an ambush, the team leader following slowly behind, weary faced, with his dead soldier limp in his arms, blood staining his commander's jacket.

"Ambush?" Lara asked quietly, coming to stand next to him and leaning on the railing, watching the team drag themselves away.

"It was expected," Cheney said stonily, "they were bait. Team Seven is out there now cleaning up the prey."

Lara remained silent for a few moments and then asked, "Why are we still alive?"

Cheney barely reacted, just continuing to look down on his team. "What makes you think that I wanted you both dead?"

"That's what Kurtis seemed to think."

Cheney gave a small laugh, smiling ironically. "Mr Trent is very perceptive."

"Yes. He is."

"Marcus was inspired enough to disobey me and to try to bring you both back in. He succeeded, and until I decide whether to overrule that decision or let it go, I'm letting you live. You're still both massive security risks, and it would probably be easier if you were both…out of the picture, but that's hardly reason enough to kill you. I won't take such a permanent action until I've thought things through."

"That didn't stop you ordering Marcus to make sure neither of us ever left those caves."

"You were supposed to die anyway, and as for Mr Trent – well, it's easier to kill someone that you don't feel indebted to."

"So you might turn on us yet," Lara said, almost to herself, rubbing her hand over her upper arm as though cold.

Cheney laughed again, slightly bitterly, and turned away from the balcony to face her. "I'm not a monster, Ms Croft. I'm just a man who has to make some very tough decisions." He smiled then, a little sadly, and strode off purposefully.

"Shades of grey," Lara said to the empty building around her.


	24. Unforeseen Victories

**In the words of Hitch Hiker's Guide, 'Don't Panic!' Fear not, my loyal readers, it's not over quite yet. Although it will be ending soon because I'm wary of dragging this thing out too long. Do you honestly think I'd leave Lara and Kurtis in such a precarious position as that?!Well, actually, yeah I would, because I'm dark and depressing like that, but not today. I think there'll be one or two more chapters after this.**

**SilverDragon67 - Welcome to the reviews! I'm so pleased that you like the story and I'm really happy that you found Bryce and Hillary funny -writing humour is not my strong point at all, I'm glad it's worked for at least a few people.  
Lady Lara Croft - You flatter me too much! LOL Thanks for sticking with and enjoy the remainder!  
theharshlightofday - I bow to you for your compliments. :-) Thankyou kindly. **

**For those who have not seen Takeshi's Castle - if youhave access to a broadcast, go watch it. It's hilarious. The reason everyone is makingsuch a big deal about winning it in this story is because **_no-one ever wins. Ever._**Out of all the dozens of episodesI've seen, possibly hundreds, I've only ever known three people win. That's why the Nintendo execs offered Bryce a meeting if he could win.**

_Unforeseen Victories_

"Foiled by a piece of _plywood_!" Bryce plodded despondently over to Akira and Takeshi, who had already been knocked out of the competition and were now watching from the sidelines with the other losers.

He had conquered the nine foot high vertical wall; he had pranced nimbly over the stepping-stones, managing to avoid the ones that sank; he had ridden a surf board through mid air, leaping over foam whales as he went; he had survived the pummelling of high speed footballs aimed at him as he had crossed the wobbly bridge with no railings and he had done it all with speed, accuracy and, most importantly, success, until he had been foiled by a piece of plywood in the game where you had to throw yourself at a random door and hope it was made of paper rather than plywood or netting.

Bruised, sprained, mildly concussed, and even cut in one place, he turned and sank wearily to the muddy ground. "There goes my chance to pitch my video game," he moaned.

"Maybe your friend Hillary will win it for you," Akira offered, as he and Takeshi leaned forward eagerly as the butler stepped up to round seven. It was the last thing Bryce would have expected, but Hillary was still in. He blindly picked a coloured ball to determine his opponent in a wrestling match, luckily got the man dressed in the potato suit with no freedom of movement, yelled, 'God and King Richard!' and then darted forward on the starting whistle to topple the potato to the ground before the vegetable could even move. It lay there, waggling its arms and legs uselessly, and Hillary proudly bowed to the onlookers.

"Bloody hell," Bryce said.

* * *

Lara lost track of time as she continued to stare down on the Company corridor from her vantage point on the balcony, depressed. She didn't move, she barely blinked, and the growing cold that was taking hold of her body barely got a reaction. Eventually a part of her decided that enough was enough, and it was no good moping, and, suddenly regaining her energy and determination, she stood, turned on her heels, and marched off.

* * *

"I need your help," said Lara shortly, appearing at Kurtis' bedside. Her voice roused him from his doze, and he opened his eyes to look up at her, standing above him stony faced and fixated on _something_.

"What's going on?" he asked, sitting up.

"We're going to steal the Tip," said Lara. Saying nothing more and not waiting for any reaction, she spun and marched away, leaving Kurtis to scramble out of bed and hurry after her.

"Mr Trent!" a nurse called, alerted by the sudden movement of her patient running away, but he continued on after Lara and just held a hand out to the nurse to stop her. "Don't worry, I'll take it easy!" he shouted over his shoulder, and the nurse came to a halt and sighed in annoyance.

"Lara! Lara, what is going on?" Kurtis demanded, catching up to her and dancing to her fast pace.

"I told you," said Lara. "It's no good sitting around moping, waiting for Cheney to execute us. We're both alive, and I intend to stay that way, even if you don't. We're going to get the Tip and we're going to get out of here."

"How?" he asked, still finding it difficult to keep up with her and hold a conversation with her at the same time.

"The stealing will be easy. The escaping – I'm working on."

They came to Kurtis' quarters and stopped, Lara turning to face him and launching straight into orders. "I doubt that you'll want to be undertaking any espionage dressed like that," she said, folding her arms and regarding his hospital pyjamas with mock interest, "so you get changed whilst I get the equipment together. Come to my room when you're ready." With that, she disappeared into her own quarters next door, leaving Kurtis standing outside his own looking flustered and bemused.

He sighed, undoing the few buttons on his pyjama shirt as he did so, and then shrugged it off and flung it over his shoulder as he spun on his bare feet and, exhaling in choiceless obedience, pushed open the door and walked inside.

* * *

Grinning to the cameras, Hillary jumped out of the underground tunnel that led out onto the playing field for the final round of Takeshi's Castle, and ran to take his place in line next to the other six survivors. Behind him, their opponents, guarding the Castle, stood ready for battle as the show's host gave his team their final pep talk.

On the sidelines, Bryce fell to his knees and began to pray for victory and that coveted meeting with the Nintendo bosses.

* * *

"Ok, I'm ready, what's the story?" Kurtis cried as, now fully clothed in his usual attire, he swept back into Lara's room.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Lara asked from where she was leaning over the bed packing up all the equipment she'd brought back from home into her backpack. She'd also changed clothes, back into her camouflage shorts and a black top.

"Yeah, I feel fine. Bit of a headache, maybe, but I took aspirin."

"You're not too tired? Because I don't need you messing this up, I'd rather do it on my own than with you in the way."

"Hey, aren't you the one who dragged me out of bed? Come on, spill, what's the plan?"

"Alright," said Lara, "the plan is, we avoid the cameras, go through the ventilation shaft, come back out by the room where the Tip is kept, break the lock, get the Tip, come back here, and then come up with something bloody spectacular to get us away from The Company." She shoved a few pieces of equipment – smoke canisters, PDA, C4 explosive – across the bed towards him. "You take these, let's go."

"Hey!" Kurtis protested as he picked the stuff up off the bed and Lara strode towards the door, "These are mine!"

"So was the password I used to log on and check the security around the Tip," Lara grinned as she stepped out into the corridor.

* * *

As he did at the beginning of every round, the host of Takeshi's Castle yelled the Japanese equivalent of 'Charge', and, with a puff of pyrotechnics, the final round began. Hillary, along with the other players, urged his electric cart forward and started aiming his laser gun at the targets on the opponents' carts that, if they were hit, would take them out of action. A couple of contestants were taken out by the enemy almost as soon as they began, but Hillary and the others managed to stay out of the line of fire, and one, two, three enemy carts went down.

"Oh please, oh please, oh please," Bryce muttered in a mantra as the remaining players weaved and swerved their way around, firing at each other. "Please, please, please let Lara have taught the silly idiot to aim."

* * *

"Now this is more like it," Lara said to herself as she led the way through the ventilation shafts, Kurtis crawling close behind.

"More your thing than all this spies and espionage stuff?" Kurtis offered.

"_Much_ more." Without further comment, Lara reached the end of the shaft and carefully removed the cover, bringing it back inside and silently resting it against the wall, before flipping herself head over heels down into the corridor below.

"You have _got_ to teach me how to do that," Kurtis said, instead exiting smoothly feet first.

Lara smiled smugly, flattened against the wall out of the view of the cameras. "The room's ten yards ahead down that corridor. You're the expert at dodging those two cameras, so why don't you go ahead?" she smiled.

"My pleasure." Kurtis returned one of his patented devastating smiles that he thought made him look irresistible, and Lara sniggered behind his back, following him as, like before, they darted down the corridors in short bursts of speed punctuated by moments of total stillness just out of view of the security cameras as they swung back towards the thieves.

"Ok," said Kurtis, dashing the last few feet to the door of interest and flattening himself against the wall, "you got six seconds."

Lara sprang into action, retrieving the lock pick from her back-pack in one fluid movement and hurriedly plugging it into the electronic lock of the door. Her fingers rapidly pressed a sequence of buttons and she watched the display intently as it cycled through thousands of combinations of numbers as the precious seconds ticked away. Just when she thought they were going to run out of time, the blue display flashed up a single combination, the lock pick beeped, and the clunk of the door unlocking satisfyingly sounded in the quiet hallway.

With no time left for celebration, Lara jerked the door open and leapt inside as Kurtis said, "One!" and then he followed her and slammed the door shut behind them, the bang barely dying away as, grinning at Lara, he counted down, "Zero."

"Nice," Lara smiled, smug once more, and she stepped forward to survey the room.

White boarded walls, a grey tiled floor and lines of small silver lockers in a grid that started about ten feet from the front wall of the room where Lara and Kurtis were standing, the whole thing was as perfect, clinically clean and polished as the rest of the building.

Lara hefted her bag off her back and pulled out her infra-red goggles, scanning the room with them. "Just like the computer said, lasers." She began to strap the goggles on so that she could move through the lasers with them, but there was a click behind her as Kurtis armed a smoke canister, and then the whole room began to cloud up, revealing the laser traps as glistening, red lines webbed out across the room between them and the lockers.

Lara let the goggles drop to her side and turned back to find Kurtis grinning at her triumphantly. "Told you they'd come in handy."

Lara rolled her eyes good-naturedly and then, quickly pinning her braid up into a practised bun to prevent it accidentally breaking any beams, she took a breath and stepped over the first beam, lying in wait at ankle height.

* * *

There was only one enemy cart that Hillary had to put out of action to win the game – Count Takeshi's, the lord of the castle that they were trying to storm, and the largest and fastest cart of them all. Not that that deterred him.

The other enemies, however – the Emerald Guards as they were known – were too much of a distraction, and unfortunately needed to be taken care of.

* * *

The next beam was knee height and Lara stepped easily over that, too, before stopping before the next beam that required her to go under, and bent, legs straight, to touch the floor. She transferred most of her weight to her hands and let her legs slide out almost into a full sideways split, slow and controlled, leaving her in a position low enough to go under the beam without accidentally breaking the previous one whilst doing so.

She paused as she realised that Kurtis had remained by the door. "Not coming?" she asked.

"Nah," he said. "I'm not sure that I'm, er…" – he eyed her lithe form in the gymnastic position - "supple enough for that." He swallowed, a little embarrassed at her acrobatics, and Lara laughed to herself before ducking under the beam and pulling herself forwards and slightly to the left, allowing her legs to close and follow behind her.

Repositioning herself to lie parallel to the beams, she used the extra room it afforded to stand back up, and then considered her next course of action for the final two beams. The next was at waist height, easy to crawl under, but just beyond it with no room to stand between the two was a post sweeping from one side of the room to the other with five beams from floor to chest height being shone out perpendicular to the others, terminating in another, synchronised post that swept just in front of where the lines of safes began. This was going to take some agility.

"Now what?" came Kurtis' voice from behind her, sounding somewhat smug that he hadn't got himself trapped in the web.

"This," Lara retorted. With that, she ran towards the left wall, planted one foot as high up on it as she could, used the leverage to vault herself over the first laser and landed, one foot after the other, on the other side of the beam, facing the left wall. The sweeping laser rushed towards her from the right hand side, and, utilising the momentum she still had from her previous manoeuvre, Lara jumped and back flipped, landing easily away from the trap that continued, unawares, right through the spot where Lara had been only a moment before. Still moving, she sprinted towards the lockers, and managed, only just in time, to escape the area patrolled by the final beam.

Gleeful at her successful gamble, she looked up to find Kurtis' smirk satisfyingly wiped right off his face and replaced with utter amazement.

"Not bad," he managed to get out at last.

Lara laughed and turned to the lockers, searching for number six, the home of the Periapt Tip.

* * *

"Ah ha!" Hillary cried triumphantly as he and the one other remaining contestant successfully ganged up on the last guard and targeted the sensor on their cart. Now all that was left was to take down Takeshi before he got them.

* * *

"Got it!" Lara announced, laying her hands on safe six and running her fingers over the electronic lock. "Kurtis, I need the lock pick, slide it along the floor."

* * *

"You're mine!" Hillary shouted maniacally as he chased after Takeshi's cart.

* * *

"You're mine," Lara growled triumphantly as she pulled out the drawer from within the locker to find the Periapt Tip lying there majestically, embedded in moulded foam.

* * *

"YES!" Bryce screamed as Hillary aimed successfully and the sensor on Takeshi's cart went up in a puff of smoke.

* * *

"Yes!" Kurtis whispered as Lara, smiling, turned to him and opened her hands to reveal the Periapt Tip glistening in her palms.

* * *

The crowd went wild as the three carts of two contestants and one Takeshi, came to a stop, Takeshi's still smoking, and the show's host ran towards his winners to congratulate them.

Lara and Kurtis laughed to themselves, eyes fixed on the Tip where it lay in Lara's hands, as the sweeping laser and its stoic companions kept up their oblivious vigil in the centre of the room.


	25. Cornering The Enemy

**Here we are again with the latest chapter. We're still not quite at the end, but we're fast approaching. This was bloody tough to write and I'm not holding out much hope that the next chapter (and possibly the last - I'm not quite sure) will be any easier!**

**Linzi - I'm really happy that you're enjoying this trilogy, and I'm glad I managed to draw someone else into the Takeshi's Castle madness! LOL I love that show.  
Lady Lara Croft - Yeah, things _were_ pretty easy for Lara in the last chapter, weren't they? Doesn't that make you a tad suspicious?! _evil laugh  
_SilverDragon67 - Hang on in there! LOL  
Thanks for reviewing, everyone! :-)**

_Cornering The Enemy_

"I believe this is yours," said Lara, and, smiling widely, she tossed the Tip across the room to Kurtis, who caught it, admiring its beauty as he trailed his fingers over its cool edges. He looked up to Lara, catching her gaze, and rewarded her with a genuine smile free of ulterior motives or cocky assurance.

Lara returned it, nodding her head in acceptance of his thanks. "Let's get out of here," she said, and turned to shut the locker to cover up their interference.

The safe door clicked shut, and instantaneously Lara and Kurtis were shook by alarm as a deafening siren sounded, sweeping red lights on the walls awakening to warn all of illegal activity within the room.

"Fuck!" yelled Kurtis, spinning round to stare as he realised what was going on. "The locker must've been armed to trigger the alarms if it's closed without the Tip inside! It must've been weight sensitive or something!"

"It wasn't mentioned – in the security logs! I checked!" Lara was too stunned to even consider escape at that moment.

"Yeah well not everything is on the computers, I think that's pretty obvious by now! Come on, we have to go!"

"But - !" Lara protested, still not fully comprehending what had just happened after she thought she'd planned it so perfectly.

"We have _got_ to go!" Kurtis reiterated, holding out his hand toward Lara to beckon her. "Come on! Forget the lasers, they already know we're here!"

His partner suddenly came back to herself and sprinted across the room, breaking the lasers as she went, each one ineffectually tripping the already active security system as her body interrupted their previously calm flow.

"Come on!" Kurtis repeated, snatching up her hand in his as she approached, and pulling her out of the room behind him.

* * *

Bryce, smug smile on his face, sauntered over to the Nintendo boss that had offered him the earlier ultimatum and stopped before him, folding his arms and regarding the executive with a victorious stare. "I believe you owe me a meeting."

Beside him, Akira translated, matching Bryce's self satisfied voice tone for tone.

The executive sighed, defeated, and nodded.

* * *

Still hand in hand, Kurtis and Lara dashed down the hallways, Kurtis still leading from his head start. They skidded to a halt as they reached an intersection, slowing enough to make it around the corner, but they barely got their speed back up again before a security team of five appeared in front of them from another bend, forcing them to stop suddenly once again and turn back, sprinting in the opposite direction.

"This way!" Kurtis shouted, pulling sharply on Lara's arm as he tooka turn left and Lara headed right. She stumbled as she reversed direction, but managed to keep her footing, her free arm flailing as she fought to keep her balance.

Yet another team appeared to cut them off, forcing them to lean back and shorten their steps as their momentum carried them forward, eventually leaving them stopped only twelve feet from their pursuers, chasing towards them.

Turning to their sides and looking left and then right at the two teams closing in from either end, they realised they were trapped.

"Duck!" Kurtis yelled, and Lara had barely registered his command before the orange glow of the chirugai swirled centimetres above her head, the sound causing her to gasp at the prospect that she hadn't quite managed to get low enough, but she had, and the blades sailed past her and arced round to cut into the security team from the right, screams and groans from its victims ringing out as, suddenly, Kurtis' hand took hers once again and she was yanked down the same path the chirugai had taken, the weapon clearing their path under its master's command. They ran into the foray, bullets smattering down around them seemingly from all sides, the chirugai effortlessly avoiding its friends as it swept round in intricate arcs to cut its enemies, leaving the way clear for Lara and Kurtis to pass through, sprinting down the corridor as fast as they could, the chirugai now chasing after them at an ever increasing acceleration as, job done, it returned. It passed them and hovered momentarily, waiting, until Kurtis plucked it out of the air as he passed, and he and Lara continued to run, heads down, hands held, eyes almost squeezed shut against the noise and the speed and the bullets.

* * *

"Hillary! Hillary!" Bryce almost ran into his victor as he tore towards him, Hillary just managing to take a step back to avoid collision. "Hillary, you star, you!" He was engulfed in a hug and then, Bryce a whirling hurricane of excited energy, pushed away again with alarming force, only to come to a juddering halt as Bryce grabbed his arms to stop him from falling, and shook him to emphasise his point. "I got the meeting! We're going to the Tokyo Games and Technology Show on industry passes! All expenses paid cab trip to the show as soon as we're ready,until midday tomorrowto spend looking at all the stuff that the consumer market won't see for another two years, as much time playing game demos as we want, and then a full hour with Nintendo's head game developer to pitch my idea! You! You!" Another crushing hug. "You darling!!"

* * *

They careened around another corner, Lara now leading the way, and continued running. A shot ricocheted off metal, and for a second Kurtis thought that they'd been caught up, but then he noticed Lara's weapon trained on a point ahead of them, her eyes squinting as if having trouble locking onto something, and he realised as the muzzle of her pistol flashed that she was shooting at the buttons of an upcoming elevator, trying to coerce the doors into opening.

He raised his arm to force the doors open with his telekinesis but against the odds one of her bullets hit home and before he could muster the strength the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, just reaching full width as they threw themselves inside, the security team rounding the corner and opening fire as the doors began to slide shut, the two fugitives throwing themselves into opposite corners behind the doors for protection as several bullets entered through the shrinking gap and slammed into the back wall of the carriage.

Down they went, the lift descending rapidly after Lara punched the button for the lowest floor available, but she didn't stop to rest. Jumping up, she hit the escape hatch, sending it crashing open.

"Come on!" she cried, and jumped up, grabbing hold of the sides of the newly opened hole and pulling herself up, Kurtis grabbing her feet and ankles and speeding her climb with a push before clambering up himself. Lara returned the help by pulling him out onto the roof, and they sat there, getting their balance. In the open shaft the lift felt far less smooth, shaking and shuddering, tremors rocking the floor beneath them as they stumbled to their feet. Offering only her actions as explanation, Lara ran to the edge of the lift and leapt into the air, banging painfully against the service ladder against the shaft wall and just managing to grab hold with her hands, her feet missing the rungs and scrabbling desperately in search of footing as the lift fell out from beneath her.

Realising her intentions, Kurtis shoved one hand forcefully through the air with a grunt, directing his minds' energy towards the shaft doors just above and to the right of Lara before, another grunt of exertion escaping him, he followed suit and leapt towards the ladder. The doors above them crashed and caved under the force, buckling inwards creating a jagged gap just enough large to climb through, and Kurtis cried out in alarm as he almost failed to make his grip, falling a short distance before his hand caught onto a rung, stopping his descent with a painful jerk and leaving him hanging for a moment before, panic taking over before thoughts, his other frantic limbs found their holds. Clinging on desperately, scared by the close call, he took a few deep breaths before he looked up to see Lara approximately one floor above him, looking down with concern.

"Are you alright?" she called.

"Yeah," he replied, relief evident in his voice, "I'm fine."

Lara nodded and then began to climb up towards the broken doors, testing her footing on the thin ledge in front of them before reaching out to quickly grab onto their buckled edges and pulling herself across. She fell through the gap, landing ungraciously but safely on the floor, and readied herself to catch Kurtis as he too reached the doors and struggled to make it to the hole.

* * *

"Excuse me," the producer said to Hillary, still in Bryce's clutches, "we're ready to film the prize giving."

"Magic!" Bryce said. "Exactly what did he win?"

"One million Yen."

"Which is…?"

"About five thousand Pounds Sterling."

Hillary and Bryce looked to each other, their faces pictures of unexpected joy. "Well – thankyou!" Hillary offered his hand to the producer. "Thankyou very much!"

* * *

"Where are they?" Cheney demanded as he marched into Surveillance, the entire office a hive of activity in the wake of Lara and Kurtis' little security breach. Agents darted from one desk to another disseminating information, some sat staring at live feeds of the security cameras and chattering rapidly into mouthpieces, coordinating the security teams chasing through the building in pursuit.

"Er…" said the nearest operative as Cheney stopped behind him, trying to answer his superior but too distracted by the map of the building on the computer screen in front of him to be able to offer a coherent answer. "Er…they're on the third floor, hallway 2. I don't know where they're headed, Sir. I don't think they do either."

"Which team is nearest?"

"Team Delta, headed by Ewing." He anticipated Cheney's intentions and handed him an earpiece. "Channel 2."

Cheney snatched the equipment, tuned to channel 2, and demanded, "Ewing?" as the surveillance agent pointed to the dot on the interactive map that represented Ewing's position.

"Yes Sir!" Ewing's tinny voice answered over the radio.

"Take the next right and then left," Cheney barked. "Cut them off! I want them dead! And make sure the Tip stays in one piece!"

* * *

"You've got to admit, man," Bryce gushed as he and Hillary rode the Takeshi's Castle coach back to Tokyo city centre, "me accidentally selling that dagger was a bloody good thing!"

Hillary smiled, laughing to himself and admiring the cheque in his hands. "There are times, Bryce – not many and not often, but there are times – when you actually manage to get something right."

* * *

Barrelling down the corridors once more, Lara had no idea where they were going or what they were going to do. There was only thing important right then – escape.

Shouts and footsteps suddenly made themselves heard over their own din, and she was horrified to find once again a security team rounding the corner up ahead, cutting off their path.

With a gasp she realised that they had to turn back – there was one other turn off between them and the team, already opening fire, and it was too close to their opponent's position. They'd be running into fire. She skidded to a halt as Kurtis did the same, obviously having reached the same conclusion, and they sprinted back the way they had come, taking pot shots over their shoulders as Kurtis sent his chirugai whistling into the fire, blindly commanding a path that served only to harass the team as they ducked and leapt out of harm's way of the poorly controlled instrument.

"Can't you do any better?!" Lara cried, desperate to even up their odds.

"Not when I'm running for my life, no!" Kurtis returned, a hint of angry sarcasm tingeing his words.

They had barely rounded another corner when yet more bullets rained down on them from another team, fast approaching from up ahead.

"Fuck!" Kurtis screamed as a bullet grazed his arm, travelling right through and leaving him stinging and bleeding. Lara bravely stood her ground long enough to fire three times before turning and tearing off in the other direction, away from the second team and at right angles to the first.

Now in a long corridor with the previous two teams behind them, their only routes available were one leading off to their right and another further up ahead that led to their left.

"Right!" Kurtis screamed to Lara, slightly ahead of him, as he spotted the dancing shadows on the far wall of a third team approaching from the left path. "Go right!"

Lara did as she was told, and they both dashed around the corner barely disappearing out of the line of fire of the third team before they opened their attack, the bullets slamming into the wall milliseconds after their targets had been there.

"Dead end!" Kurtis yelled, realising that there was only a window ahead of them and no time to try the doors that lined the hall. "We're fucking cornered! This is exactly where they wanted us!"

They clattered to a stop by the window and turned, chests heaving and eyes filled with horror, to meet their fate just as the first of the teams began to round the corner into the hall.

"STOP!" Lara cried, snatching the Periapt Tip out of Kurtis' pocket in a flash of inspiration and holding it high. "Or I'll smash it!"

The teams, suitably taken aback by the threat, slowed and stopped, their weapons lowered even as Kurtis' remained aimed.

* * *

Watching all on the cameras from within surveillance, Cheney yanked out his earpiece and threw it onto the desk furiously, realising the same as his teams: it was they who were now cornered.

* * *

Lara's eyes strayed over to the window at her side, surreptitiously checking their height. Kurtis realised her intentions and the chirugai slowly, gently, so as not to provoke a reaction, rose up off his belt and flitted over towards the front ranks of the teams, hovering at eye level and swaying back and forth slightly leaving small trails of orange evanescence as it held insurance over the enemy.

"Stay right where you are," Lara ordered, backing the few steps to the window. Leaving Kurtis to cover her, she shielded her face with her arm and hefted her foot into the glass, shattering the pane, the tinkling of broken glass over the soft swish of the chirugai a quiet peaceful sound deceptive against the tense atmosphere of the stand off. The quiet returned and the soft sounds of light traffic from below floated in through the window.

Turning back to keep her eyes on her opponents, she reached behind her and knocked out the final shards from the window frame, clearing the way for their escape.

* * *

"Get a team underneath that window!" Cheney snarled, back in surveillance.

* * *

"Any minute now, Kurtis," Lara said softly, and, understanding her instruction, he called his chirugai back to him. The sudden speed of the weapon turning back to its owner caused the team members to start and reach for their weapons, but their leader called them down with a word, eyeing Trent warily.

Whistling through the quiet air, riding the slight breeze from the broken window, the chirugai sailed gracefully back to Kurtis, who plucked it out of the air and held it to his side, a quiet threat to unleash it once again should anybody move.

"Back away slowly," Lara ordered in a low voice to Kurtis, and they both did so, stopping when they felt the metal rim of the window frame against their thighs.

Still holding the Tip aloft in threat, Lara spared a glance out of the window and saw their chance approaching quickly.

She acted fast, bringing the Tip into her chest for protection and turning towards Kurtis, taking his arm and pulling sharply to bring him out of the window with her as she yelled, "Now!", and then they fell, tumbling out of the window, twisting in midair from the movement that Lara had forced into them, bullets taking chase as the security team opened fire, and landing heavily on the roof of a goods lorry as it drove past the building. The wind was knocked out of them, they bounced slightly from the impact, and when they opened their eyes again they were speeding down the road away from Cheney, away from Security, and with the Tip safely in their possession.

* * *

"Well?!" screamed Cheney, glaring with eyes blazing at the stunned members of Surveillance who were watching the lorry disappear into the distance on the feed from the external CCTV, "Don't just stand there gawping! Track that vehicle and find them!" 


	26. Checkmate

**Right. (rubs hands together gleefully). Everything is about to be resolved in these final two chapters. You have No Idea how difficult this was to write, but the sense of achievement I got when I typed those final words, 'The End' was somewhere in the region of what I felt after a 24 hour marathon finishing off my final year research project for my degree, so you get my drift. Big thanks go out to Jo, without whose inspiration this chapter wouldn't have been nearly as exciting. I owe her a lot for the past two years.**

**Linzi - I'm really happy that my action writing has improved enough to get that review. :-) I've not seen The Da Vinci code myself, but I did take inspiration for the truck bit - from an episode of Early Edition. Yep, Hillary and Bryce have definately improved - just take a look at them in this chapter!  
SilverDragon - Ahhh, what kind words! :-) I hope I do your addiction justice with the end.  
Nickless - Yep, Kurtis was bad, but remember that he had a pretty sturdy motivation. And he's a lot better now, right? I do like Evil Kurtis though... And just for you, here's a mega long chapter.  
Godavari - Welcome back!!! Glad you enjoyed the catch up!  
Lady Lara Croft - Wow, what a great review! Thankyou!! You have no idea what a tough time I had coming up with a way to get them out of this one.  
Teef - Yep, there have been a few winners on Takeshi's Castle. Only a few though. Usually a massive eruption of cheers when it finally occurs! I really should have put Craig Charles in this shouldn't I?! I'm so very happy that you're enjoying this so much.**

_Checkmate _

The sign had said, 'To Let' and so, after checking that the place really was empty, Trent and Croft had broken into the first floor duplex apartment. Apparently empty for some time, it was dusty, dark and without water or electricity, though thankfully furnished.

Kurtis' seemingly inherent ability to have blondes fall at his feet had come in handy once again, he'd said, smug but joking, upon returning from the Seven-Eleven at the end of the road. Though without currency of any kind, he'd managed to pay for a bottle of water, snack foods and a small first aid kit with nothing but a smile, a wink, a promise that he'd drop by with the money later, and his phone number – for insurance against the loan only, of course. Lara had muttered something about easily led youngsters and disappeared into the kitchen get some cutlery and plates, generously included in the apartment's rent.

"You're just jealous," Kurtis called into the kitchen as he sat in the lounge and used one hand and his teeth to knot a bandage around the wound on his upper arm.

"And why would that be?" Lara's voice had replied, floating in through the doorway.

"Because men never chat you up with nothing but their natural charm and a romantic injury," Kurtis said dryly.

"Like you did with that air hostess on the plane back from Prague, you mean?" Lara appeared in the doorway and leant against the frame, brandishing a butter knife at him to illustrate her point. "I'm sorry? Did you say, 'charm'? I'd be insulted if they did." She turned and went back into the kitchen.

Kurtis, giving the bandage one final sharp tug with his teeth, grunted slightly at the pain and then stood, following her and imitating her own movements of leaning in the doorway. "And yet, secretly excited."

Lara snorted, spun round to shove a plate at him, turned back to do the same with his drink, and then balanced her own glass on her plate before picking it up and sweeping past him to go and sit down.

"Your hand ok?" Kurtis asked, noticing she was keeping its use to a minimum.

"I sprained it when we landed on the lorry. It's alright, it just twinges a bit when I put weight on it."

"You want me to bandage it? Support'll do it good."

"No, it's fine."

"Ok." Seemingly perfectly happy to accept that, he took a bite of his sandwich and leant back onto the sofa opposite Lara, staring around the room casually. Lara took the time to shoot an acidic glare his way, quickly turning it into a dazzling smile when his gaze came back to her.

* * *

"_How_ cool is _this_?!" squeaked Bryce as he, Hillary, Takeshi and Akira sought their way through the crowds of thousands and thousands of people at the industry technology fair. It was packed; one could barely move for exhibits, salesmen and visitors. All around them monitors showed snazzy animations and demos touting their products and innovations, a cacophony of music, sound effects and excited chatters rose to the roof of the massive exhibition hall and a stage at the far end played host to the conference spots of all the companies represented, their presenters and performers playing their hyped up, big budget spectacles to an audience paying only a casual attention as it thronged, weaved and perused its way through the affair.

"It's…certainly…busy," Hillary managed to say as a million and one things vied for his attention. He pushed his way forward a few feet more and then said, "What's the excitement over a faster computer anyway? It'll only be too slow before the year's up." When no answer came he looked over to scold Bryce for ignoring him, but Bryce was gone, and so too were their two new Japanese friends. He turned, completing a full circle on the spot as he searched for the familiar face, but Bryce was nowhere to be seen. "Great," Hillary sighed, flapping his arms in exasperation as the crowd surged around him, himself only visible from above. "Just great."

* * *

Working between mouthfuls of food, Lara began to unpack the contents of her backpack and laythem out orderly on the floor.

"You said you had a wildcard?" she said.

"When I saved you from Reynard? Yeah, but it's useless now."

"What was it?"

"When I first got involved with The Company I figured it was a good idea to have some insurance. I dug up everything I could on them, which wasn't much. Found out that Cheney had a family that thought he was dead. He faked his death to keep them secret, keep them safe from people using them against him. I found out about them, I threatened to tell them the truth about him and then shoot them unless he left you alone."

"And you're sure we can't use that now?"

"For one thing, using that again would just prove to Cheney that we have no advantage over him, and give him the confidence to finish us. For another, I doubt his family are even in the same state they were before. He's bound to have had them moved somehow, away from me."

"Then what do you suppose we do?"

Kurtis looked thoughtful for a moment and then, realising something, patted his pocket and, finding what he was looking for, pulled out his PDA. He laid it in line with Lara's equipment and, smiling at her knowingly, said, "We need Bryce."

* * *

The sun had set and the cold had set in by the time Lara and Kurtis, after covering their tracks, had set off and walked down to the shopping district of the suburb. It had been raining, and the wind blew small ripples in the black puddles sliced across with streaks of amber reflecting from the streetlights. A few people milled about here and there, but no-one really took any notice of the two fugitives as they strolled along, discussing their plan quietly with their arms hugged around themselves for warmth, their hair playing about their eyes eliciting frequent tosses of the head to dislodge the annoyances.

"Bryce hates your guts," said Lara, a statement in the middle of their conversation that had been going since they'd started out.

"Ah come on, we were good friends."

Lara raised her eyes skywards as if trying to remember something. "I believe he's currently working on a plan to track you down using a spy satellite and then bounce a deadly laser off it to reduce you to ashes where you stand."

Kurtis blinked.

"All right, then," he said, quickly regaining his composure after that little revelation, "_you_ talk to him."

A few steps more took them to a public phone box, its harsh light spilling out and illuminating the two as they stepped into the shelter of the box, arranging themselves to fit. Lit strongly against the dimmer glow of the streetlights, they were clearly visible across the street as Lara, dialling in for a reverse charges international call, looked up to Kurtis and smiled, nodding her head and saying something that was inaudible to the observer hiding in the shadows across the street. Kurtis grinned back, latching some sort of crocodile clip wire from his PDA onto the phone cord, and Lara laughed, placing the receiver to her ear.

Regarding them curiously, the shadowy observer began to turn and walk away, disappearing into blackness as he retreated quickly into a dark, rubbish filled alley.

* * *

The phone vibrated in his pocket and Bryce clapped his hand to his side as he realised that someone was calling him. Fishing it out, he let out a sigh of relief – it wasn't registering Lara as the caller. How he'd explain the background noise, he didn't know.

"Hello?"

"Bryce!"

Oh god, it was Lara.

When he didn't respond as he was frozen somewhat with dread, Lara tried again, "Bryce?!"

"L-Lara!" Bryce got out, regaining composure enough to sound as unconcerned as possible. "Lara, how are you?"

"Bryce, I need your hel – what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Bryce shouted back over the noise he was pretending didn't exist.

"Why am I calling my house and yet hearing a positive riot of foreigners and video games?"

Damn. Think fast. Think fast. Think fast. "Um…I'm at the Tokyo Games Show. I forwarded house calls to my mobile." Yes, Bryce, wonderful explanation. Tell her the truth, why don't you?

"And what are you doing at the Tokyo Games Show?"

Bryce paused, looking guiltily to the side and then back again. "Me and Hillary _may_ have decided to take a bit of a holiday whilst you were in London. Last minute Travelocity thing."

"Oh. Alright." Praise the Lord, she wasn't angry. "Bryce, listen, we need your help. First, there's a bit of a ca – "

"We?" Bryce interrupted, suddenly noticing Hillary was missing. For a moment he thought Lara meant herself and the butler, and that Hillary, the scheming little toad, had buggered off to tell Lara the whole story, but then he realised that they were on completely different continents and the whole idea was preposterous, and he let out a snatched breath with a sigh.

"Myself and…Kurtis," Lara finished, sounding apprehensive, and with good reason, for at that name Bryce exploded.

"Kurtis?!" he screamed into the phone, forgetting where he was. At his sudden outburst a couple of visitors moving past him started, shooting him strange looks, but quickly carried on to leave the strange Westerner to his phone call.

"Now, Bryce, calm down," Lara began, but she was cut off as he launched into his tirade.

"What the _hell_ are you doing with him again, Lara? He tried to kill you, remember? Or is that alright?"

"Bryce, this isn't the time."

"No? When is the time? When I've got to comfort you all over again after he's endangered your life and run off without a second glance again? When I have to stay up all night with you watching you cry over him and his actions again? When I've got to put up with you wallowing in self pity over the loss of your precious kindred spirit again?"

"Bryce!" Lara cried, trying to make him listen to her, but he continued on.

"No, Lara! No _bloody_ way!"

"Bryce!" Lara bellowed, demanding his attention. This time he listened. "We will talk about this later. Right now, I need your help. You're _my_ employee, and I'm telling you that you _will_ shut up, you _will_ help me, and we _will_ talk about this later."

"No, Lara, I'm your friend. And yes, we will talk about this later. Now," said Bryce grudgingly, "what do you need?"

"First – we have a bit of a cash flow problem. And then – well, I just hope you can help us now you're not at the mansion, because then, we need something bloody spectacular."

"Lara," Bryce sighed in resignation, unhappy that he'd have to condone Lara's alliance with Trent by helping them, "Lara, I'm surrounded by the world's most advanced, state of the art, cutting edge technology that hasn't even hit the market yet. From here, I can do _bloody_ _anything_."

* * *

Hillary had been looking for Bryce for half an hour. It took Bryce half a minute to find Hillary as he said goodbye to Lara after formulating with her, and indirectly and grudgingly with Kurtis, what could only be described as a 'cunning plan'.

"Hilly!" Bryce shouted, appearing behind the butler. Startled, Hillary turned to see Bryce ending a call on his mobile phone, looking down as he locked the keypad. Finishing, he looked back up to his travelling companion and spoke.

"Lara just called."

Hillary looked critically back and asked, "Did you tell her we were in Tokyo?"

"Well, she did wonder why there was apparently a load of Japanese tourists in her house, yeah. Look, she's in Las Vegas, she's with that bastard Trent, and they're in trouble. Now as much as I would like to leave _him_ to get shot, tortured and killed, I'm under strict orders to get the both of them out of the sorry mess they've gone and got themselves into. I'll explain on the way, but right now we need Akira and we need to go and take a look at the new ultra speed internet connection demonstration which is over there." Bryce pointed as he spoke his last words, and then marched off to go and get started on his big rescue mission, leaving Hillary behind gaping in confusion.

* * *

A rustle of clothing as someone shouldered a weapon. A soft click as the safety was released. A sigh as the assassin calmed himself, steadying his aim.

"Target locked," he said into a small microphone attached to an earpiece – standard Company communication devices.

"Hold position," came the reply in his ear.

He did as he was told, watching the magnified image through his electronic sight. Croft was replacing the receiver and Trent was unplugging a couple of wires from a small hand held device, wrapping them around his hand into tidy coils and shoving them into his pocket. His hand came back out towards the device again, knocking Croft's on the way, and she flinched, wincing.

The observer felt no sympathy at her injury, or joy that it could be an advantage to his side. He simply remained motionless, waiting for instruction, breathing slowly and calmly.

Starting as he realised he had hurt her, Trent dropped the PDA onto the shelf of the phone box and took up her hand, massaging it and saying something to her with a smile. She smiled back, allowing him to minister to her. Holding her hand in his for a moment, he asked her a question. She nodded, her hand was allowed to drop, and they started out of the phone booth.

"Target moving," the man said. "Do I shoot?"

A slight pause, the targets moving further and further towards the edge of the man's line of sight.

"Negative," was the answer. "They scrambled the line, we have no idea what that call was about. More intelligence required. Abort mission."

The weapon was dropped.

* * *

"Will it take him long?" Kurtis asked.

"I don't know," Lara replied. "He's never done this for me before."

As if to add its own comment, the ATM by which the two were waiting clicked, and then whirred as it rolled out two hundred dollars cash.

Lara smiled, plucking up the wad of notes and leafing through it with a smile. "Thankyou, Bryce," she said to the air. "Who'd have thought it was possible to hack a cash machine into paying out money?"

The cash was snatched out of her hand and, startled, she looked up to find herself staring straight into the black hole of a pistol silencer, Kurtis behind it grinning evilly.

"Who'd have thought it possible that anybody could be as gullible as you?"

* * *

Unseen, the man watched as Kurtis mashed his hand over Lara's mouth, her muffled cries unheard by anyone else as she was dragged backwards, kicking and struggling, across the deserted street and was swallowed up by the darkness of a quiet, foreboding alley.

"There's been a development," the man said into his mouthpiece.

* * *

"Now what?" Hillary asked, looking over Bryce's shoulder as he sat eating a sandwich in front of the demonstration computer at the high speed wireless connection exhibit. Beside him sat Akira and Takeshi, fully indoctrinated into the proceedings and lending help where they could, Akira providing back up in the hacking proceedings.

"Now we wait until they use that phone," Bryce replied, casually munching away.

"Do you think they'll be long?"

"Well, let's just say that it's a good job that this exhibition is open all night."

* * *

Well after midnight, the streets of the suburb were now devoid of any movement of any kind. In that part of town, not even night owls driving their cars to other places had business to draw them through there, so Kurtis did not have to bother disguising his actions as he hustled his captive into the phone box in which they had earlier joked so good naturedly, shoved her painfully into a corner, and pushed hard on her shoulder with one hand to keep her in place as he wedged himself against the door to doubly ensure she did not escape. There was only one person out there with them, and Kurtis didn't need to treat Lara well for him.

He reached out and picked up the receiver, jabbed a number in with his index finger, and waited as it rang.

The line was picked up wordlessly and, blinking towards the floor, he spoke to the silent operator on the other end, his words short and sharp, his tone demanding.

"Kurtis Trent. Get me Cheney."

* * *

The computer beeped, startling Lara's four rescuers who were beginning to doze off at their station after almost three hours of eventless waiting.

A quick glance confirmed to Bryce what the noise had suggested, and he and Akira flew into action, fingers tripping lightly and expertly over the keyboard as they began to work.

"That's it, we're in. Tracing the call now," he announced proudly to Hillary.

"Right," the butler replied, deciding to do what he knew best. "Takeshi – we need to go and get some coffee."

* * *

Cheney stalked down the corridors, wordlessly daring anyone coming the opposite way to get close to him. He was _not_ happy.

"Sir!"

At the sound of someone addressing him, he stopped and spun round to glare furiously at the young agent dashing towards him waving an earpiece. "Sir!" she panted, coming to a halt and holding out the equipment, "It's Trent, Sir. He's got Croft and he wants to come back in."

* * *

The first rays of sunrise were beginning to brighten the sky, turning it from a deep black to yellowish grey, with a promise of a beautiful red dawn to come.

Bound and gagged, Lara stood meekly by, her posture contrasting sharply with the determined, formal, confident figure of Kurtis next to her. His hands were clasped loosely behind his back and his legs were apart in a firm stance as, with a raised chin giving an air of derision, he regarded the unmarked black Land Cruisers pulling up ahead. Their tyres rolled smoothly over the empty tarmac of the back-street garage lot with the sound of rubber on wet, and then jerked slightly as the brakes were harshly applied.

Trent's head dropped, his line of vision now cutting menacingly underneath the hair falling around his face as the doors to the vehicles were swung open and nine men and two women stepped out, all dressed in their usual black combat gear. Marcus was one of them, greeting Trent with a wary nod of the head and eyeing Lara suspiciously as he came to stand next to their leader – Cheney.

"The Tip?" Cheney asked, voice raised to carry across the fifteen feet between them.

"Safe," Kurtis replied.

"So what are your demands?" Cheney said, impatient.

"You give me two million dollars and assurance that you'll let me go, I give you Lara and the location of the Tip."

"How about I have you surrounded, you tell me where the Tip is, and then I have you both shot?" Cheney's minions raised their weapons, clicking into readiness, and Kurtis glanced down to see eleven red sights dancing across his torso.

Remaining calm, he looked back up and said, "I don't call that being surrounded."

In answer Cheney only smiled amusedly and circled his finger, indicating that Kurtis should turn round. He did, only to be met by the soft red line of an infra-red sight viewed at an angle, extrapolating back to a point right between his eyes. Gasping almost inaudibly at the unexpected presence, Kurtis strained his eyes to see the source and just managed to make out the dark shadow of the assassin that had been following them all night. Sighing loudly as though irritated, Trent turned back to Cheney, taking on a casual stance.

"I don't think so. You see – " His arm darted out and wrapped around the front of Lara's shoulders, pulling her to him as a shield to the frontal attack, and his Boron X pressed forcefully into the side of her head. "The Tip is in a safe that can only be opened with Lady Croft's iris print. And I don't hold out much hope for those pretty eyes of hers after a point blank shot to the temple, do you?"

Cheney laughed quietly, motioning to his men to keep their sights trained. "I don't buy you, Mr Trent. I don't buy you at all." He began to stroll forward, closer to his opponent. "I know about your original plan to steal the Tip before I sent you after Gero. I know your motivations. I know your feelings. I know full well that you are up to something. You expect me to believe that you'd suddenly give up on your mission to take the Tip under your protection and instead sell it to me knowing full well that I only intend to use it to bargain and threaten my way through Company business? You expect me to believe that Croft means so little to you that you'd use her like this? No. You want that Tip and that woman for redemption."

Kurtis' expression wavered for a moment before returning to its original tenacious, cold stare. To emphasise his conviction, the gun was pressed even harder into Lara's temple, and her eyes screwed shut in a moment of pain, her own countenance fully convincing in its fear.

"Yeah, well, there aren't exactly that many Lux Veritatis left in whose eyes I can be redeemed, and two million dollars is a lot of money. And Lara? She just gets in my way, clouds my judgement. I won't say it won't pain me to get rid of her, but I'm better off without her."

A muffled scream of defiance and rage escaped from Lara and she tore herself free from Kurtis' grasp, rushing forward towards Cheney on a collision course. Reacting, he jumped back, narrowly escaping her path as she continued to barrel onwards, doing her best to escape in her restricted situation.

"Second team!" Marcus yelled, and five of the sights previously trained on Kurtis rushed over to centre themselves on his escaped prisoner, easily chasing her movements as she fought to run and remain upright without the balancing aid of her arms, tied behind her back. Thankfully, the teams knew better than to fire without warning, and the red dots did nothing more than follow her, illuminating her in the early morning gloom.

Apparently panicking at the sudden loss of his leverage, Kurtis turned and bolted, dashing towards the shadows of the fence surrounding the area, picking up speed fast to try and climb it.

"I want them alive!!" Cheney screamed, desperate not to lose his only links to the Periapt Tip.

"Accost!" was Marcus' responding order. Two members of the second team dashed forward, quickly gaining on Lara who was still running. The second member caught up with her first and tackled, bringing them both to the ground with a heavy thud, the remaining members of the team hurrying over to assist in her detention and cover her with their weapons.

The noisy pounding of six pairs of feet came rushing up behind Kurtis, gaining rapidly as he reached the high fence and leapt up to grab onto its top, one foot planting at knee height to push himself upwards. He was halfway through his rise when a single shot rang out and the wood in front of his face shattered, exploding in debris of splinters. He cried out as the shards blew up in his face, cutting his skin and embedding themselves in his flesh, and fell, landing painfully on his back on the tarmac, opening his thankfully uninjured eyes to see six agents staring down at him along their weapon sights. Groaning in pain and defeat, he rolled onto all fours and staggered to his feet, looking over to see the lone assassin standing some distance away, calmly returning his look. "Hollow point bullet," he said to Kurtis by way of explanation, and then turned, strolling towards the cars.

Kurtis sighed again, following the man with his eyes until his line of vision hit upon Lara being held securely some distance away, struggling half-heartedly. His view was blocked by Cheney coming to stand in front of him, staring into Kurtis' eyes. Cheney's own narrowed, trying to sort the truth from the lies. At last, he voiced a conclusion. "No. No, you're trying to confuse me. You expect me to believe that you can't put up a better fight than that? Of course you don't. For some reason, this poor show of deception is your way of getting back into The Company and keeping yourselves alive at the same time. I'm inclined to end it all now and just have you both shot, but you're clever and you know that I can't do that just yet." He sighed, confused. "Alright," he called to his men. "Load them in the cars, we're taking them back in. Keep a _very_ close eye on them."

Lara was roughly led away, Trent was handcuffed and blindfolded, and, a gun trained on each of them, they were pushed into the cars.

* * *

"Is that them?" Hillary asked, looking over Bryce's shoulder at a camera feed playing on the computer screen. It showed a dim, deserted underground car park surrounded by doorways, two black Land Cruisers entering down a ramp from the surface on the far side, blocking the dawning light spilling down from the open.

"Yep," said Bryce.

"And you're sure you're ready? Everything's sorted?"

Bryce looked to Akira and Hillary followed his eyes, giving their accomplice a questioning look. "Yes," Akira said confidently, "everything is ready."

* * *

The Land Cruiser stopped and Cheney and his agents got out first before Lara and Kurtis were pulled from their seats, stumbling down to the ground and looking over to see the inhabitants of the other car disembarking coolly and easily.

"I don't suppose you'll make this easy on yourselves and just tell me what's going on?" Cheney asked, coming to stand in front of his prisoners.

Lara, now freed of her gag, smirked and said, "Oh, I think the man with the answers is on the other side of that door." She gestured to their entrance and Cheney glanced over, a wry chuckle escaping him.

"You mean Reynard? Yes, I think you're probably right."

Lara didn't answer, just looking down to the ground to hide a smile. Kurtis was rather more open with his expression, grinning and nodding towards to the door as he said, "Shall we?"

Cheney smiled, sure that he still had the upper hand. "Of course."

They reached the doors and Marcus stepped forwards to swipe his ID. Cheney standing in front, Lara and Kurtis to either side and slightly behind, the soldiers bringing up the rear, Cheney adjusted his stance to one of confidence and power, ready to present himself to his employees on the other side.

The door slid open and the smile on the Company leader's face fell away, in direct contrast to the one that appeared on the face of the man now standing in front him.

"Sergei?" Cheney asked, bewildered. His eyes trailed upwards to the balcony overlooking the entrance corridor, where the other five members of the Company oversight committee stood, staring down forebodingly.

"Been looking for this?"Sergei asked, and his hand emerged from behind his back to hold up the Periapt Tip, sparkling mockingly in the electric lights.

Cheney's mouth fell open, speechless. "But," he began, but a female voice of Chinese accent cut in from up above.

"You were denied permission to pursue that solution, James."

"It was the only way," James Cheney protested, stuttering his defence.

"You obtained the Periapt Tip, sent these civilians in to eradicate your cult problem, getting Mr Trent killed in the process, and then stole it away for your own unauthorised use in future negotiations, before trying to have these innocents murdered," a third voice said.

"No! I didn't steal it! They did!"

A fourth voice broke in. "The Tip was found in a bank safe in the next town, locked to your iris print."

"No! You don't understand – "

"We understand," said a fifth voice.

"Very much so," continued the sixth and final. "I'm sure that you'll also understand." He nodded down to Marcus, who seamlessly accepted the change of management and stepped forward, raising his weapon to his former commander.

"Lead the way, please, Sir," Marcus said, nodding in the direction of the containment cells.

Cheney was stunned. He shook his head, his mouth open in shock. "No, I – "

"Sir," Marcus insisted.

Cheney blinked, realising his defeat. Turning to Lara and Kurtis he asked, "How?"

Kurtis spoke, his voice low so that only he, Lara and Cheney could hear. "When I called in to tell you I wanted to deal, Lara's tech, Bryce – you remember him from the briefing I gave you on Lara – used the line to locate and break into Company systems. From there he tracked down communications to the oversight board, sent them a message telling them your plan, and let them decide how to act on it."

"And the real Tip?" Cheney asked, knowing instinctively that the one in Sergei's hands was fake.

"Safe," said Lara. "That one is glass, made to order at a very reasonable price by one of Kurtis' contacts and placed in a locker then programmed with your iris print lifted from the Company personnel database by Bryce."

Cheney nodded slowly, accepting defeat. "Well played," he said simply.

And then he turned and walked proudly away, head raised, towards his fate.

**Not quite over yet...a little epilogue is only a mouse click away.**


	27. Prologue

**In case you've skipped straight to the latest chapter to read the update, be aware that I posted the final two chapters in one go, so you need to skip back one and read that, otherwise you'll be missing out on some fun. Go on, back you go. Shoo. Chop chop. I'll see you back here in a minute!**

**Well, here we are. The very final chapter. And yes, I know 'prologue' is the wrong word! :-) As the first chapter was an epilogue for the events and character development of the first two installments of 'Home', this is a prologue in that there are a lot of good implications for Lara and Kurtis' futures. Plus, having twoepilogues would just besilly. **

_Prologue_

"So where are you going?" Lara asked.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and she and Kurtis were at the end of her driveway, Kurtis on his bike with the engine purring softly.

"To finish my tour of England that was so rudely interrupted by Cheney," he smiled.

"You're sure you don't want a guide?" Lara asked.

"No," he replied, smiling warmly at her offer. "I think I need some time alone. I have a few things to work through."

"Despite what you might think, you are a good man, Kurtis. The Tip believed you were, it took your life in exchange for Gero's, remember?"

"Blood and poppies, Lara, blood and poppies."

Lara smiled to herself, content to let Kurtis judge himself as he saw fit. He'd work it all out in the end. "Don't be a stranger," she said.

Kurtis blinked, considering contentedly the situation he now found himself in – a traveller who now at least had a home to return to, when he needed it. He looked up to the house behind Lara, grand, old and patient, assuring him that it would be here when he returned.

"You got my number, ok?" Kurtis said by way of farewell. Lara nodded,beaming. "Goodbye, Lara." He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "See you around."

With that he revved the bike and then took off, rolling down the lane at a leisurely pace, looked after by Lara, both happy that he would return rather than sad that he was leaving.

Still grinning, Lara strolled back towards her house in the warm late summer sun, a soft summer breeze toying with the loose hair framing her face. Reaching the door, she found the postman that had arrived just as she and Kurtis had set out packing away some paperwork before leaving, suggesting that recorded mail had arrived. Greeting Hillary with a nod of her head, she took the post from his hands and began to leaf through it, sorting out her own from the mens'. Sure enough, there was recorded mail, and it was addressed to her, from…Nintendo?

Curious, she turned it over to break the seal, but before she could remove the contents, Bryce whirled in to the room, gasped, and snatched it out of her hands. "Just something I ordered in your name!" he called in explanation, rushing away again. God forbid she should see the legal papers seeking her permission for the game developers to use her image in their new action-adventure. He could forge her signature and she'd never have to know about his little business venture.

"Hmm," Lara said, deciding it was best to leave Bryce to his own devices.

Regarding him slightly curiously, she watched as he disappeared down the corridor, tapping a number into his mobile phone as he went. "Akira?" she heard him say, "It's here."

"See you in a while," Lara said, turning to Hillary, and retreated upstairs to read her post in the sun on her balcony.

Reaching her room, she spotted a gift lying in the centre of her bed. Laughing happily to herself, she picked it up, inhaling its scent as she moved out onto her balcony, twirling the flower in her fingers – a single, blood red poppy.

THE END

**Ta da!!! Well, I don't know about you, but I'm really happy with that story. Coming in 111 pages in Word (wow) it's the longest and most complicated thing I've ever written. Whew! **

**Big thanks go out to:**

**Nintendo: Sorry for borrowing you, but I needed a random Japanese based games developer. And hey, you got advertising right?  
La Femme Nikita: Without you - well, I borrowed a _lot_ for this story. :-)  
Early Edition: You got Lara and Kurtis out of a tight spot.  
All those who have characters appearing as namesakes: You include lecturers, friends, acquaintances.  
Takeshi's Castle: I just had to pay tribute to you and the immortal General Lee.  
Duran Duran: 'Ordinary World' was playing as I wrote the Jeep scene. It was inspiring.  
Tomb Raider:Without you, this story wouldn't even exist. Sorry I didn't let Bryce hand his game concept back to you, but I was geographically restricted. ;-)  
Silent Hill: What a boring flight Bryce and Hillary would have had otherwise!  
: Hello, World!  
Jo: Checkmate would not have occurred without your help.  
And last but not least:**

**All my reviewers: You brightened up my inbox, spurred me on to write faster, gave me invaluable encouragement and feedback, and generally made the last four months very enjoyable! Thankyou!!!**

Disclaimer: Despite the huge amount of borrowing/outright stealing, I made no profit from this work other than in emotional and creative fulfillment. I have a huge student debt which is about to get bigger and no clothes suitable for a court of law, so if you don't like it, just ask me to change it, don't sue me, ok? This is just profitless fun, and quite frankly you should be flattered that you're in this at all. It means that I like you.  



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